December 2025 - Sweetpotato Speak

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September 2025: The efforts of the AEWR Coalition and the NC Sweetpotato Commission were recognized as I was invited to participate in two different panels at the Georgia Ag Labor Conference in Tifton, GA. September 2025: Official release of research conducted by Drs. Alexandra E. Hill and Phillip I. Martin of University of California, Berkeley and University of California at Davis respectively, where their report outlines the many challenges the current AEWR system poses to American producers. October 2, 2025: The US Department of Labor submitted an Interim Final Rule (IFR) radically changing how calculations of the AEWR are performed, capturing that the FLS is no longer able to be utilized and rates are more aligned with individual states and minimum wage versus a regional calculation that has been historically used. This IFR also came with an Open Comment period to the DOL with a deadline of 11:59pm EST, December 1, 2025. November 21, 2025: The United Farm Workers Union filed a lawsuit against the DOL’s IFR to block the Interim Final Rule and the newly adjusted AEWR hourly rates. December 2, 2025: I was invited to represent the Commission’s efforts on labor advocacy to speak at the Southeast Vegetable and Fruit Expo in Myrtle Beach, SC.

June 9, 2025 : The FOIA was filed with the USDA and at the time of filing it was representative of 30 total organizations, across 5 states, including two national organizations. June – July 2025: Extensive media coverage provided to the FOIA Coalition and our efforts to gaining transparency for AEWR calculations and the utilization of the FLS. Over 158 publications covered our efforts! June 16, 2025: The NC Chamber in partnership with several organizations including the GFVGA, released a commissioned study that Dr. Blake Brown put together detailing how there are economic flaws within the AEWR calculations. The report is available on the Chamber’s website and is entitled; A Broken Baseline: The Flawed Economics Behind AEWR Calculations. August 2025: The Commission formally joined efforts to also support the advocacy work that the NC Chamber is working on pertaining to Ag Labor.

August 26, 2025: The 2023 AEWR Rule was tossed by the court system and ruled to be vacated with immediate effect.

August 28, 2025: USDA Discontinued the Farm Labor Survey

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