(Scott Olson/Getty Images) A federal judge in Richland brought down the gavel against a U.S. Department of Labor policy that would have resulted in Washington farm workers being paid less in the future. The Department of Labor was going to use the results of a national survey of agricultural employers done on a state-by-state basis to set minimum wages for farm workers this year. In many cases, this would have changed how farm workers were going to be paid. “Many of these wages changed from a piece rate to a minimum hourly rate at which the workers would earn a lot less money,” said Andrea Schmitt, an attorney with Columbia Legal Services, representing the plaintiffs.