Trump Administration to Issue Joint Labor Agriculture Rule on Feb. 25, Wage Floor to Rise $1.75

The Rule and Its Timing

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2026. The Trump administration plans to release a joint Department of Labor and Agriculture Department rule on Feb. 25 that will raise the minimum wage for H-2A guest farm workers by $1.75 per hour and require employers to recruit U.S. workers through state workforce agencies before filing visa petitions, according to two Labor Department economists familiar with the final text.

The directive, titled the Interagency Agricultural Labor Enforcement Directive, will be published in the Federal Register on Feb. 26 and take effect on March 15, the economists said. The wage increase would lift the national average hourly rate for H-2A workers from $14.62 to $16.37, a shift that the Labor Department estimates will move roughly $1.2 billion in annual farm wages from employer payrolls to workers, the sources said.

The administration will announce the rule at 11 a.m. on Feb. 25 at USDA headquarters, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, with Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins presiding, according to an internal scheduling memo reviewed by The Alamo Post.

The rule is the first major output of a White House review that began after an executive order on agricultural labor issued Jan. 9, the economists said. That order directed the two departments to align immigration enforcement with wage policy and to complete a final regulation within 45 days, a deadline the administration will meet by two days, the sources said.

Sources and Scope

The two Labor Department economists, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the final rule, said the regulation grew out of a December 2025 review ordered by the White House Domestic Policy Council. A trade association official who was briefed on the draft last week said the rule would apply to all employers seeking H-2A visas for crop harvesting, dairy operations, and livestock work in fiscal year 2026.

The trade association official said the regulation would cover roughly 320,000 H-2A positions certified in fiscal year 2025, with the largest concentrations in California, Florida, Washington, Georgia, and North Carolina. The official requested anonymity to discuss private conversations with USDA staff.

A small-business owner in the sector, who runs a 40-acre strawberry operation in Oxnard, California, said a county farm bureau representative told him on Friday to expect the announcement on Tuesday and to prepare for a payroll increase of about $780 per worker per month during the spring harvest. The grower said he employs 22 H-2A workers during peak season and had not budgeted for the wage jump.

The trade association official said growers were especially concerned about the recruitment requirement, which would force farmers to document every U.S. applicant who responds to a state job listing and to justify any rejection in writing. The official said the requirement could add two to three weeks to an already tight planting and harvesting calendar.

Economic and Enforcement Mechanism

The rule's recruitment requirement will obligate employers to list openings with state workforce agencies for at least 21 days before filing H-2A petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the economists said. Employers must document any U.S. applicants and explain rejections on a new Labor Department form, ETA-9142B-CR, which will be required starting March 15.

The wage increase will be tied to the USDA Farm Labor Survey rather than the current Adverse Effect Wage Rate formula, the sources said. The new benchmark would set the hourly floor at $16.37 nationally, though individual states would see rates ranging from $14.90 in the Southeast to $18.55 in the Pacific Northwest, according to a cost table circulated to USDA field offices.

Violations of the recruitment requirement would trigger fines of $1,540 per affected worker for first-time offenders and potential debarment from the H-2A program for repeat violators, the Labor Department economists said. The rule directs the department's Wage and Hour Division to conduct at least 1,200 targeted audits between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2026, the sources said.

The economists said the rule also directs the USDA Economic Research Service to publish a monthly tracker of farm wage costs beginning March 3, a data product the administration hopes will justify the policy to Congress and to the public. The tracker will report average hourly earnings by crop category and by state, the sources said.

Funding for the audits would come from existing Labor Department appropriations, with no supplemental request expected before the fiscal 2027 budget proposal in March, the economists said. The administration estimates the rule will cost employers $1.2 billion in the first full year but will raise net farm worker earnings by roughly the same amount, the sources said.

What to Watch Over the Next 72 Hours

The announcement will set up a confrontation with agricultural trade groups and immigrant worker advocates. A coalition of growers' associations is preparing a lawsuit to file in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California as early as Feb. 27, the trade association official said. House Agriculture Committee staff have scheduled a briefing for March 2 to examine the rule's effect on food prices, two congressional aides familiar with the plan said.

White House officials expect the rule to dominate the president's schedule before his trip to Phoenix on Feb. 28, the sources said. Watch for a Labor Department technical guidance memo expected late on Feb. 25, USDA regional webinars beginning Feb. 26, and potential Senate floor debate on a disapproval resolution the week of March 2.

The Alamo Post will continue to follow the rollout, the legal challenge, and congressional reaction as the administration moves to implement one of its most significant immigration and labor regulations of the second term.