The U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA released its Farm Labor Survey, which the Department of Labor will use to generate the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for the H-2A program, according to a statement by the American Farm Bureau. As a result of the survey, it is anticipated that H-2A wages will increase by 4.5% in 2021. This would mean that for California, the new wage will increase by $1.28 to $16.05 per hour. The 2020 AEWR for California was $14.77.

In normal years, the AEWR is known when the Farm Labor Survey is released in November, but the Department of Labor's earlier rule to transition away from the Farm Labor Survey and to freeze the AEWR for two years was stopped by a court challenge in late 2020.

The Department of Labor will publish the new AEWR's in the Federal Register in the next two weeks and it should go into effect immediately thereafter.

The CSC will provide an update once the final rule is released by the U.S. Department of Labor.