As former New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra would say, it’s de ja vu all over again in Oregon and Washington. And for most famrers, the feeling is not a good sensation.

Minimum wages in the two states jumped again today, the latest in a series of annual wage increases dating back to 1999 in Washington and 2003 in Oregon.

Washington’s minimum jumped from $7.93 to $8.07. Oregon’s went from $7.80 to $7.95.

The annual wage increases have their roots in referendums voters passed in the two states calling for annual adjustments to the wages based on inflation.

The wage also increased in California this week, jumping to $8 an hour beginning – up from $7.50 last year. California’s minimum isn’t adjusted annually, but still undergoes regular increases due to actions by the state Legislature.

Even Idaho is undergoing a minimum wage increase this year. The federal minimum, which Idaho uses, is increasing from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour July 24. The federal minimum increases again on that date in 2009, moving to $7.25.

Idaho is one of 10 states enforcing the federal minimum. Five states have no minimum wage and four have wages less than the federal minimum.

Ripple effectThe effect of the annual wage increases in Oregon and Washington, according to sources, affects much more than just minimum wage workers. It ripples up and down the pay scale.

“The effect ripples all the way up and increases your total labor costs, not just a portion,” said Oregon Farm Bureau’s Don Schellenberg.

“And the problem is you don’t have any way of mitigating that effect.”

“It’s the bracket creep that creates the problem,” said Beavercreek Christmas tree grower Stan Low.

The wage increases that kicked in this week make Washington’s wage the highest in the nation. California along with Connecticut pays the second highest in the nation. And Oregon ranks next.

“It’s nice to be No. 1, but …,” Rochester, Wash., Christmas tree grower Mark Steelhammer said, before letting his voice tail off.

The discrepancy in minimum wages among states tends to create an uneven playing field for the nation’s farmers, according to sources – especially given that prices paid for farm products typically don’t fluctuate on a regional basis.

Northwest Christmas tree growers, for example, compete directly with Christmas tree growers in North Carolina. North Carolina growers, in addition to being closer to Eastern U.S. markets that serve as a significant outlet for Northwest tree sales, work under a far lower minimum wage of $6.15 an hour.

“Higher labor costs and higher transportation costs are all a part of a squeeze that we’re caught in,” Low said.

On an international scale, West Coast growers operate under an even more dramatic disadvantage.

Bloomberg News reported recently under a new, higher minimun wage that Mexico recently initiated, workers in the zone nearest the U.S. border will receive just under $5 a day.

In China, which has become a direct competitor with West Coast farmers, per capita net income for the country’s 900 million rural residents is expected to reach about $550 a year in 2007, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

‘Significant burden’Higher prices being paid for some commodities in recent years have helped growers meet increased costs for fuel, fertilizers and wages. But most labor-intensive crops – crops requiring hand-picking – haven’t experienced price increases, Schellenberg said.

In those crops, Schellenberg said, labor costs often are half the total cost of production, and the annual wage increase creates a significant burden.

Mitch Lies is a Salem-based staff writer for the Capital Press, The daily Astorian’s sister paper.