Ag News
Labor, tariffs key issues discussed in GFB trip to Washington, D.C.
Posted on Mar 19, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Georgia Farm Bureau members visited Washington, D.C, March 11-13, meeting with the Georgia congressional delegation and sharing concerns about agricultural labor, the farm bill, and disaster and economic assistance. GFB members went to the offices of eight of Georgia’s 14 districts and both senators. The group also heard presentations from the European Union Delegation to the U.S.
The GFB group emphasized the onerous farm labor costs under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Adverse Effective Wage Rate (AEWR). For 2025, the AEWR for Georgia is $16.08. Fred Wetherington of Lowndes County noted that administrative and logistical expenses pushed the actual cost of foreign laborers up by more than $3 per hour.
“It's way out of control and it makes no sense,” said Wetherington, who volunteers as the Lowndes County Farm Bureau legislative director. He came away encouraged that congressional staff acknowledged the problems that come with using the H-2A agricultural labor visa program.
“I feel like both sides of the aisle, folks I've talked to on this trip, it seems like compared just a few years ago that there's a lot of recognition that the program is broken,” Wetherington said.
On March 11, GFB members received briefings from American Farm Bureau Federation staff on international trade, labor and the national political landscape.
AFBF Senior Director for Government Affairs Dave Salmonsen walked GFB members through a timeline of tariff-related actions dating back to Feb. 10.
Here is the timeline Salmonsen presented:
Feb. 10 - The U.S. announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports.
Feb. 13 - The “fair and reciprocal plan” for tariffs was ordered by President Donald Trump, who tasked the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department to develop the plan, which they are required to submit by April 2.
March 4 - The U.S. placed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Canada implemented a 25% tariff on approximately $21 billion worth of U.S. products. AFBF has noted that this includes $5.8 billion worth of Canada-bound U.S. ag products.
March 6 - The tariffs on Canada and Mexico were delayed until April 2.
March 7 – The U.S. announced potential tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products.
March 10 – China implemented retaliatory tariffs.
March 12 – The U.S.’ 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports went into effect.
Salmonsen said the Canada softwood lumber duties have been a point of dispute since the 1980s.
The first portion of the Canadian retaliatory tariffs applied to U.S. poultry, dairy, grains, fruit, vegetable oils, alcohol, vegetables, peanut butter, bakery goods and pasta, condiments, sugar, tobacco, and coffee/tea/spices.
Since Georgia leads the nation in poultry production and produces approximately half of U.S.-grown peanuts, those items are of particular interest to Georgia growers, but Canada’s approach on U.S.-produced alcohol has drawn particular attention.
“They like to hit the politicians,” Salmonsen said. “Every retaliation list around the world leads with bourbon. Not just because it starts with a B, but because of Senator [Mitch] McConnell and they also are put on wheat and corn and other things.”
China’s retaliatory tariffs closely resemble those implemented in 2018. China increased tariffs on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton by 15% and placed an extra 10% in tariffs on soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, seafood and fish, meat and meat products, animal by-products and fats, edible oils and fats, and honey.
Farm labor costs out of control
AFBF Associate Economist Samantha Ayoub provided analysis of the farm labor situation, which she said could be a factor in forcing the U.S. to import more food.
“We simply don't have the people to produce it here in the U.S. and if we're going to start putting tariffs on goods, if we're going to start reducing immigration even in these legal pathways for guest workers, we're going to have to import more.”
She noted that only 28% of rural Americans are of “prime working age,” (between 35 and 55 years old), while 20% of rural Americans are at least 65 years old. About 45% of U.S. farm laborers are foreign born with either questionable work authorization documentation or none at all. Ayoub said that tendency to sue to settle disputes is an underacknowledged aspect of the immigration discussion.
“We always kind of get called out in agriculture for having undocumented workers, but we don't really tell that other side of the story - the U.S. litigation culture - and the ability of people to sue for this, that and everything. There’s employer liability that goes along with questioning documents.”
The number of H-2A positions certified has grown ten-fold over the past 20 years, from around 40,000 in 2005 to 384,900 in 2024.
Meanwhile, the AEWR in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina increased by 9.5% from 2024 to 2025, trailing only Florida (9.9%) in terms of percentage increase.
Farm bill extension
AFBF Director for Government Affairs Joe Gilson reviewed Capitol Hill movement on the farm bill, which was extended to Sept. 30 under the American Relief Act of 2025 passed in December.
Farm bill spending in 2025 is expected to top $1.4 trillion, 79% of which is allocated to nutrition programs. A total of 18%, or $265.5 billion, is expected for crop insurance, commodity programs and conservation programs.
The extension, Gilson said, does not include funding for so-called “orphan” programs like the feral swine eradication program and approximately $100 million for agricultural research.
Gilson also noted that net farm income from 2022 to 2024 is forecast to increase for cattle and calves, poultry, specialty crops and dairy according to the Farm Bureau calculations using USDA Economic Research Service data, but net farm income is expected to decrease for producers of cotton, hogs, corn, wheat and soybeans.
Georgia farmers briefed on EU agriculture, trade topics
In a meeting on March 11, staff with the European Union (EU) Delegation to the U.S. briefed Georgia farmers on the trade landscape between the EU and U.S.
The EU consists of 27 nations on the European continent and Ireland, with a total combined population of approximately 550 million people. Dr. Silke Boger, agricultural counselor to the EU Delegation, provided a statistical comparison between U.S. and EU farms.
“You have about 350 million people in the U.S. We have 450 million. We have considerably less land, so the demand is higher,” Boger said. “The population density is higher, everything takes place in much less space and that has an impact on what you do, how you regulate and how you need to regulate, what you can do on land and how you can use it.”
While the U.S. has about 1.5 million farms, the EU has more than 9 million. The average U.S. farm has 460 acres, compared to 43 acres per farm in the EU. U.S. farms are generally more diversified, while many EU farms produce more specialized crops.
The total value of U.S. farm production in 2023 was $521 billion, compared with the EU’s $581 billion.
The per-acre production value on U.S. farms in 2020 was about $587; in the EU it was $1,463 per acre, Boger said.
The EU and U.S. are each other’s largest trade and investment partners. Boger noted that in 2023, the two entities swapped $1.7 trillion worth of goods, services and investments – an average of $4 billion per day.
Boger said total trade activity between the EU and Georgia supports about 180,000 jobs in the state. Georgia’s top agricultural export to the EU is peanuts.
Of EU exports to the U.S., about one-fifth is wine, followed by spirits, beer, water and soft drinks (mainly mineral water).
The top ag product the U.S. exports to the EU is soybeans (about 22%), followed by tropical fruit/nuts (21%) and spirits (7%).
Boger pointed out that new EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Cristophe Hansen, who began his duties in that post on Dec. 1, 2024, is tasked with establishing a new vision for agriculture and food on the continent, with the goal of ensuring farmers there can earn equitable income for their production while improving the EU’s food sovereignty.
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