Assemblyman John Lemondes (R,C-LaFayette) recently sent a letter to Chairman of the Congressional Agriculture Committee Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, requesting that Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for New York be altered to lower costs for farmers who employ H-2A workers. The letter was signed by numerous assemblymembers from around the state and farm owners in Central New York.

“Agriculture is New York’s largest industry and one of paramount importance to the state economy, it is imperative that New York’s structural barriers be addressed…We urge you and your colleagues to include a waiver request process in the H-2A section of the farm bill where New York and other states can challenge the AEWR set by the U.S. Department of Labor,” Lemondes wrote in the letter.

Recently passed regulations in New York mandate that farmers must pay employees excessive overtime costs for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week after the rule is fully phased in. Many farms require intensive labor schedules well over 40 hours per week to stay financially viable, especially during the crucial growing and harvest seasons.

“New York farmers will have to pay an employee for overtime at a wage rate of one- and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 48 hours per week. If New York could have their AEWR decreased, it would help alleviate the increased costs farmers must bear due to the new labor overtime regulations,” Lemondes continued in the letter.

“All of New York’s farms are family owned and agriculture is our largest and most important industry,” Lemondes said. “Unfortunately, farms are facing a triple-pronged attack lately with an increasing minimum wage, H-2A wage requirement and these new overtime rules. Furthermore, what downstate politicians don’t understand is that farms are price takers, not price makers, with overhead and production costs continually cutting into already slim profit margins. I am urging Congressman Thompson to include our requested change in the next Farm Bill and help us fight back against this assault on agriculture.”