GAP Connections September Newsletter

Monitoring Visits will conclude by October 1. If you have not yet been contacted, please reach out to GAP Connections as soon as possible.

Complete the Self-Assessment
1. Deadline: Before the monitoring visit.
2. Note: This is required for Certification and is one per operation.
Expect Contact from the Monitoring Firm. The monitoring firm will contact you via the method you request at the time of application (phone call, text, or email). You have been placed on their contact list, and they will contact you 2-3 weeks before arrival. Any questions about scheduling or invoicing should go directly to the monitoring firm. Visits are currently being conducted and all monitoring visits must be completed by October 1.
Prepare. Start reviewing the 2025 Certification Compliance Guide.
After the Monitoring Visit. Growers will receive an audit report either by mail or email (depending on the preferred method of correspondence selected at the time of application) within 72 hours. It is important to review the audit report promptly to determine if remediation is required. If remediation is required, it must be completed within 30 days. Instructions on how to remediate any remediable issue can be found in the Compliance Guide and the Remediation Guide.
Pay the Monitoring Firm Invoice. Please note that GAP Connections (GAPC) will not issue a Certificate until the invoice has been paid in full. Each Monitoring Firm has its own procedures for verifying payment, which may take 1–2 weeks to complete. We ask growers to remain patient during this time. GAPC closely monitors the payment confirmation process and will issue the Certificate as soon as we receive confirmation from the Monitoring Firm. GAPC cannot accept payments or respond to questions regarding invoices. All invoicing inquiries must be directed to the Monitoring Firm.
GAPC Certified. Growers who have achieved Certification will receive a letter and a Certificate by mail or email (depending on preferred method of correspondence). Growers may also access the Certification Status report via the GAPC Grower Dashboard.
Complete the Survey. Following your Monitoring Visit, you will receive a short survey requesting feedback about your experience. We encourage all growers to complete the survey, as your input is valuable in helping us improve the program. Also, you will be asked if you would like to receive a GAPC Certification Gate Sign if the operation becomes GAPC Certified.
Need Assistance? GAPC staff are available Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm EST to answer any questions.

The 2025 Annual GAP Training concluded on June 30, 2025. Over the course of the training year, GAP Connections successfully trained a total of 2,401 growers through a combination of in-person sessions and the online training platform available on the GAPC Grower Dashboard.

80% of growers chose to attend in-person training, demonstrating strong engagement with face-to-face learning opportunities.

As part of the 2025 Annual GAP Training, growers were given the opportunity to complete an Annual Training Survey to share feedback. By participating, they were also entered into a drawing to win a free GAPC Certification Application fee waiver.

Congratulations to the two growers who won! They have been contacted to claim their reward.

Learn more about GAP Connections’ efforts and get full details on the 2025 Annual GAP Training topics and locations in the Annual GAP Training 2025 Summary Report.

Stakeholder engagement is a critical part of the success of GAPC and GAPC’s activities, as it is ultimately the stakeholders who determine the success of our efforts.

The principles of GAPC’s stakeholder engagement include:

Inclusive: GAPC strives to be inclusive to allow all stakeholders the opportunity to voice their opinions, concerns, and questions by evaluating the environment in which we operate and identifying existing and new stakeholders.
Trustworthy: GAPC strives to be trustworthy by planning engagements with purpose and sincerity to collect feedback from a variety of stakeholders and by building and maintaining trusting relationships.
Transparent: GAPC strives to be transparent with stakeholders by sharing proposed changes to GAPC activities with stakeholders.
Responsive: GAPC strives to be responsive by updating stakeholders when GAPC is reviewing feedback with GAPC decision-makers and providing updates on any actions related to feedback.

GAPC engages with stakeholders both through direct engagement (i.e. one-on-one meetings and presentations) and through solicitation of feedback through public comment periods. These methods of engagement allow stakeholders to provide feedback on current and proposed GAPC activities. To learn more about GAPC's stakeholder engagement, please review the GAPC Stakeholder Engagement Policy.

The comment period is open until October 17, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST.

View Proposed Changes Here.

On August 28, 2025, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will discontinue its data collection program and reports, including the Agricultural Labor Survey, which is commonly referred to as the Farm Labor Survey (FLS). The FLS is a survey of 18,000 farm operators and the results of the survey are published by NASS in its Farm Labor reports semi-annually, in May and November. The report includes quarterly estimates of the number of hired workers and average hours worked per worker during each of the four reference weeks. In addition, the FLS includes quarterly estimates of average hourly wage rates for field workers, livestock workers, field and livestock workers combined, and all hired workers (including supervisors/managers and other workers).

Learn more about what this means for H-2A workers and the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR).

A federal court has recently decided that elements of the 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate Rule should be eliminated. John Walt Boatright, Director of Government Affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the decision is a step in the right direction toward comprehensive labor reform.

“Well, a district court out of Louisiana has recently vacated the 2023 H-2A disaggregation rule, which segregated wage rates based on job functions within the H-2A seasonal agriculture program. This means that we are awaiting guidance from the Department of Labor.” Read more.