Immigration

How An ICE Raid Cut This Dairy's Workforce By More Than Half

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:53:19 GMT

Like many of their fellow dairy farmers, Rodney and Dorothy Elliott, owners of Drumgoon Dairy, grapple with securing reliable labor. Nestled in the small town of Lake Norden, S.D., their labor headaches intensified this past spring when their 6,500-cow dairy operation experienced a federal Department of Homeland Security audit that led to the immediate termination of 38 employees. The Elliotts were left with 16 workers.

“We didn’t just lose employees — we lost years of experience, skills, knowledge and a team culture that we had built over the past 10 years or more,” Dorothy says.

The audit findings revealed several workers had inaccurate, outdated or incomplete documentation regarding their U.S. citizenship status or work permits. For the Elliotts, the raid brought to light a critical issue that many farms and ag businesses face today: The complexities of immigration policy impact workforce availability.

The Elliotts fear for the future, not only for their own dairy, but for the industry at large. Immigrant workers are critical to dairy operations, representing over half of all dairy farm labor and contributing to 79% of the U.S. milk supply, according to the National Milk Producers Federation.

“Basically, we’ve turned off the tap, but we’ve done nothing to create a solution to find employees for the dairy industry,” Dorothy says.

(Drumgoon Dairy)

The urgency for immigration reform is exacerbated by the fact Americans are typically unwilling to undertake these demanding jobs, says Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association.

“This is bigger than just a dairy issue, this is a feeding America issue, which is national security. Roughly half of all on-farm labor in America is unauthorized. We cannot feed ourselves as a country without these workers,” Naerebout says. “One of the lessons we learned from WWII is that a country that cannot feed itself without imports is at greater risk from their enemies.”

(Drumgoon Dairy)

A Sustainable Future Requires a Sustainable Workforce

The Elliotts’ journey began in northern Ireland, where they managed a small dairy farm restricted by stringent government regulations. Frustrated by the limitations and lured by an enticing marketing campaign from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, the family took a leap of faith. They left Ireland, aspiring to transform their modest 140-head operation into a modern, sustainable dairy farm.

Their vision extended beyond business growth — they also set their sights on building an operation that offered future generations a chance to return to farming.

“We’ve achieved our goals that we set out for ourselves: Build a dairy, milk cows and grow the dairy industry in South Dakota,” Dorothy says. “Is it a sustainable goal if there’s nobody to work on these dairies? No. All the time, money, effort, investment and hard work that has gone into it will be null and void if there isn’t a workforce.”

With firsthand experience, Elliott empathizes with her workforce, many of whom are Hispanic immigrants. Elliott gained citizenship shortly after relocating to the U.S., and her husband followed suit, becoming a citizen eight years after they moved.

“We’re facing a reality where all our employees are doing is working. They’re filling positions that are, at present, not being claimed by American workers,” Dorothy reflects.

Her statement sheds light on the essential roles immigrant laborers play across the agricultural landscape, highlighting the gap between workforce demands and available labor supply.

“I want people to understand that dairy farms don’t choose to hire undocumented workers. We all have to hire following state and federal guidelines,” Dorothy says. “Everyone who was hired on our farm had to have a state or federally issued ID card and a Social Security number. Some of these employees had been working without any flags being raised for over 10 years. They were paying all the state and federal taxes we are required to collect.”

(Drumgoon Dairy)

Automation Still Requires Human Touch

Despite adversity, the Elliotts push forward. Nearby farms offered temporary assistance following the raid, and they continue to heavily invest in both local and international workforce recruitment. Although automation seemed a promising alternative at one point, the prohibitive costs and disappointing results led to the sale of some equipment.

Drumgoon Dairy installed 20 robots in 2020. They hoped to recruit students and graduates from Lake Area Technical College’s robotics program to maintain the equipment. They’ve advertised maintenance positions, but the response has been disheartening. As of now, “no one,” according to Dorothy, has stepped forward to fill these roles.

Given the high costs associated with running and servicing the robots, the family decided to remove them.

(Drumgoon Dairy)

A National Security Crisis

Drumgoon Dairy’s challenges are not isolated. Since President Trump’s crackdown on immigration started a year ago, ICE Raids have happened all across the U.S. While numbers specific to the agriculture industry aren’t available, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , the number of people in immigration detention in the U.S. hit an all-time high as of Dec. 14, 2025, at 68,400 people.

It’s been nine months since the ICE raid at Drumgoon Dairy. While the Elliotts now have a full workforce, they’re not operating with the same level of experience, skills and knowledge.

“I feel that the Republican Party has run on this promise of immigration reform and encouraging new businesses to come and set up businesses in the U.S.,” she says. “Since we started dairy farming in 2006, the only people coming to work on dairy farms have been from the Hispanic community. I now see local construction businesses, factories, landscaping businesses and other ag businesses all using Hispanic workers. Where is the reform? What has been done to facilitate a sustainable workforce?”

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Will 2026 Finally Be the Year for Immigration and Ag Labor Reform?

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:44:57 GMT

Talk to any farm group across the country, and they will tell you that the agricultural labor shortage is one of the most limiting factors in the industry right now next to low grain profitability.

The Time is Now
The debate over immigration and ag labor reform has been a political hot potato for decades, which has led to inaction by Congress. However, there are some indications from the leadership of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees that 2026 might be the year a long- or short-term fix could finally be passed.

The chairs and ranking members of both committees joined American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall at their annual convention in Anaheim, Calif., this week to talk about a variety of ag topics, but the focus quickly turned to ag labor. There was consensus among all four that solving this crisis was a priority for 2026.

Senate Ag Committee Leadership Making Ag Labor a Priority
Senate Ag Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., says the H-2A program is not working and there is pressure to find a solution.

“And I just think the time has come to get this done,” she says. “Michael Bennett has a bill that I am a co-sponsor of that would fix the H-2A visa program and make sure that we have year-round visas, that we are doing something on wage certainty protecting the existing workforce.”

Klobuchar says she has worked on immigration and agricultural labor reform over the course of several administrations, only to hit a brick wall in the end. However, she believes the need has become too great in the U.S. among industries like agriculture to ignore. To get this across the finish line farm groups like the American Farm Bureau will need to appeal to lawmakers about how refusing to solve this crisis could put more farmers out of business.

“You’ve got to make that economic case about how we want to feed the world,” she says. “We want to have strong businesses, and to do that we need a smart immigration system that allows for workers.”

Why is 2026 Different?
One change that has improved the political climate is the Trump administration’s beefed up efforts to protect the U.S. southern border says Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark.

“We said we could not do reform because the border was not secure, and it wasn’t secure; it was just the opposite of that,” he says. “We’ve worked hard; it is secure now, then through Visa programs you control the flow, but it’s time to do that.”

Boozman adds that another important change is the consensus in agriculture about the importance of reforming immigration and ag labor.

“Every farm group I talk to say this is a top priority,” he says. “We need massive reform, and the good news is on both sides of the aisle, I think, that we are getting that message because of your hard work lobbying.”

House Ag Committee Leadership Has Already Laid the Groundwork
House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson, R-Pa., agrees it is time to break the grid lock on ag labor reform in place since the 1980s.

“Because if you don’t have a work force you have food insecurity; if you have food insecurity you have national insecurity,” he says.

In the 118^th Congress Thompson laid the groundwork for legislation by assembling a 16-member bipartisan task force on ag labor that included a cross section of farmers and processors. He says the result was a thoughtful action plan that provided 21 recommendations for reform.

“Fifteen of those were unanimous, and so we have taken those to legislative council,” he says. “We’d probably be a little further ahead if we didn’t have that goofy shutdown. We are looking forward here in this first quarter of this year of getting that introduced.”

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., says it’s a good first step but warns the challenge for immigration reform is the ongoing ICE actions carried out by Homeland Security. She had heard from dairy farmers in her home state about the chilling effect its having on the work force.

“Whether they were legal immigrants or not, they don’t want to come to work because they fear this environment right now,” she says.

Craig says at times the administration has given the impression that they do not want immigrant labor in the U.S., and so that needs to change to be able to build enough support in Congress to pass this legislation.

A Conversation With Ag Secretary Rollins on Labor, Disease and MAHA

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 19:59:30 GMT

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stuck to streamlining the federal government labor rules to alleviate dairy’s worker crisis and said more aggressive measures are coming to prevent and contain disease, in an interview with Dairy Herd Management. Rollins this week was at the joint annual meeting hosted by National Milk Producers Federation, the United Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association in Arlington, Texas.

While there, she said the H-2A visa program is particularly broken for dairy, which requires year-round support instead of seasonal workers. She also said measures, such as mandatory testing for lactating dairy cattle prior to interstate movement, are not aggressive enough to address modern biosecurity threats.

Below is a summary of Dairy Herd’s 20-minute conversation with Rollins, who discussed labor, disease prevention as well as her feelings on the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

What Federal Efforts Are in the Works to Ensure Adequate Labor for U.S. Dairies?

One of the central concerns among dairy producers, and the entire industry, is comprehensive immigration reform. To put it in perspective, more than two-thirds of today’s 9.36 million dairy cows are milked by immigrant laborers in the U.S., according to the National Milk Producers Federation.

Currently, the H-2A visa applies strictly to seasonal or temporary labor. Dairy operations, however, require consistent, skilled workers every day of the year. Milking and caring for cows, managing processing facilities and ensuring food safety are daily tasks that don’t pause between seasons. This mismatch leaves dairy farmers and processors nationwide without a legal means to fulfill their guestworker needs.

In addition to the need for year-round help, Secretary Rollins notes farmers must interact with three different federal agencies to use the H-2A program. Moreover, the costs associated with securing labor have significantly increased, with reports from farmers in south Texas indicating average hourly costs, including transportation and housing, reaching $30 to $35 per hour. Comparatively, similar labor across the border is $2 per hour, Rollins says, illustrating a system that is both unsustainable and inherently unfair.

Ideally, any H-2A program changes will reduce costs and red tape, but comprehensive solutions ultimately require congressional action.

In addition to visa programs, Secretary Rollins says the current administration remains focused on sealing borders and mass deportations.

“Everyone understands the dynamics of an open border, and the millions and millions, we’re unable to count how many, that crossed during the last administration. The President’s No. 1 promise as a candidate in 2022 through 2024 was sealing the border and mass deportations,” she says. “Looking at this challenge through the lens of understanding labor is absolute when we can’t feed ourselves, combined with where we are in terms of immigration, those are the nuances.”

How is the Administration Addressing Threats to Animal Ag?
On day 1, after being sworn in as Secretary of Ag, Rollins was briefed on HPAI . She made it clear that while some measures, such as mandatory testing for lactating dairy cattle prior to interstate movement , had been enacted, a broader and more aggressive approach is necessary. Recognizing that maintaining the status quo was insufficient, a comprehensive strategy was essential — not just from USDA but across the entire federal government.

“I realize there are lots of opinions on my boss, President Trump, but I think the one thing that most people would agree on is that he leaves it all in the field. And, that we have to do everything we can for this moment that we were given to fix a very broken system, whatever that system may look like, in this case, which is animal disease,” Rollins says.

In February 2025, the Trump administration set forth a five-point plan to combat HPAI . Rollins notes the dairy sector, in particular, showcased remarkable adaptability to HPAI threats, demonstrating industry resilience and proactive measures.

Significant investments, such as a $100 million innovation grant , have been allocated to explore vaccines and therapeutic solutions. However, the complexities of viral mutations necessitate caution, especially regarding vaccination strategies, to prevent potentially more dangerous strains from emerging.

“I think we’re going to make more progress than perhaps has been made. Having said that, it’s a virus and the virus always wins,” she says, noting they are worried about New World screwworm and took aggressive actions to combat that by closing several ports.

“We’ve not imported new animals, which is one of the reasons beef prices are up, but we are looking now to figure out how to start reopening ports. I think we’ve gotten our arms around exactly what the problem is,” she says. “We’re building out new sterile fly facilities, which is the only way we eradicated it 30 to 40 years ago, but we have a really good system in place.”

Rollins shares collaborations with international counterparts are stronger, creating an unprecedented partnership with Mexican authorities to manage and preempt future animal agriculture outbreaks effectively. Enhanced border protocols, including disinfection and ivermectin treatments for imports, underscore a commitment to protecting livestock health.

“I feel confident that we are aggressively attacking all pieces of NWS,” she says.

What Does the MAHA Movement’s Mean for Dairy?
The “Make America Healthy Again” movement aims to revamp the nation’s food system, and Rollins offers reassurance dairy products at the forefront.

“Health care costs too much. We’re not getting the care we need, especially to vulnerable populations. How do we fix that?” she asks. “Over the last year, it is completely flipped to, what are Americans eating? What are we serving in our schools? What are we serving in our SNAP program, which 42 million Americans are on the food stamp program.”

While the current economic situation is troubling, Rollins is confident in the long-term potential for profitability and sustainability in the dairy industry.

“What milk, cheese and other dairy products mean as we completely and fundamentally shift our entire food system is our dairy industry is at the very front tip of the spear,” she says, noting the response markets are answering and the dairy industry, too, with the $11 billion in new processing plants, U.S. dairy is riding a wave of momentum that is fueled by consumer demand.

“In the long term, I’m not sure there is an agriculture industry that has more to gain and that will see more of a pivot toward real profitability and real sustainability than this [dairy] industry. I could not be more excited to help lead on that,” she says.

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America's Farm Labor Crisis: Can Immigration Reform Save Agriculture?

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 19:24:01 GMT

Walking orchards in the Central Valley, is something Scott Peters’ family has done for four generations. With his great grandfather settling in the fertile valley in 1933, the family has been immersed with changes. From regulations and battles over water, to the fight for labor and immigration, Peters Fruit Farms is not only working to preserve the past, but also fighting for their future.

“Today, we primarily grow stone fruit. We’ve gone a little bit into the citrus just to diversify. We have the packing house, so we want to keep it running year round. Citrus is the winter commodity, and stone fruit is the summer commodity,” Peters says.

The Peters are unique. They don’t just grow and pick the fruit. They’re also packers and shippers — an operation that relies on hundreds of employees throughout the year.

“Labor prices are really difficult for us,” says the California peach grower. “As an example, our minimum wage is $16.50. When we compete against Georgia (known as the ‘Peach State’), their minimum wage $7.25. It’s just under half of what we have to pay people, which means we just don’t have a margin of error. If there’s something wrong with the crop — if we have a weather event — it stings us a lot harder.”

California’s Farm Labor is Skilled and Difficult to Replace

That’s the reality for farmers across California. Not only are regulations and water becoming expensive for growers across the state, but labor costs are also on the rise. And considering labor is the highest cost for fruit growers, it’s putting a severe strain on producers.

And while it’s expensive, labor is one of Peters’ most critical resources.

“They’re a very talented labor force. We can’t just go and get somebody off the street,” he says. “We can’t get an H-2A worker from another country who doesn’t know the industry. They can’t do the same job.”

From Arizona to California, to meat processing plants that span across the U.S. Peters says that’s one of the biggest misconceptions about migrant labor. People may think they aren’t talented or skilled, but Peters argues they’re both.

“The supervisors have these rings, and we’ll open them up to the size of fruit we want picked. They will pick a few samples off the tree, show them what sits on the ring and what goes through the ring. And the labor we have picking in the orchard, they will know — just by looking at the rings — which fruit to pick,” Peters explains. “They’ll just go from limb to limb, tree to tree, and they’ll pick the size that we’re requesting by the rings.”

Scott Peters shows U.S. Farm Report host Tyne Morgan rings they use to show individuals who are picking the fruit just what size of fruit they need to pick that day. With barely any difference in the size, it shows just how skilled the labor that works in Peters’ orchards are today.

(Matt Mormann, Farm Journal )

Peters says, to the untrained eye, the difference in the size of the rings is unnoticeable — making the labor this orchard employs irreplaceable.

“That’s how skilled they are,” he says. “So when people say they’re replaceable and you can get H-2A people or other people off the street, no, it doesn’t work that way. Those people will have no idea that small of a difference when we’re asking them to pick a certain size.”

The Broken U.S. Immigration System

The individuals Peters employs aren’t part of the H-2A system. Instead, his workers have been in California for generations, doing manual labor many Americans either don’t want to do, or physically can’t do, at a speed that’s needed today.

“The immigration system in the U.S. is absolutely broken today,” Peters tells U.S. Farm Report. “Why? Because they don’t have a simple, easy way to make immigrants legal. It’s complicated. It’s not very easily accessible for the people. If they find a way to do it, it takes them a long time. We have employees that have gone through the process and are legal. At the time, we did not know they were not. We had no idea. When they come to us, they show us a valid ID, and they show a valid social security card. As far as we’re concerned, we are hiring legal people. And then they come back to us down the road and they show other cards and say, ‘Well, now i need to change.’ Then we have to abide by the new name because of the standards.”

Results from Farm Journal’s Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor

(Lindsey Pound )

Agricultural economists from across the U.S. agree. In the latest Farm Journal Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , 87% of economists said the U.S. immigration system is broken for agriculture. But on the flip side, 87% of economists also said there will be no movement on immigration reform in 2025.

Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers Leagu e, has been fighting for a fix to the current immigration system for decades. He says the current 40-year-old immigration system doesn’t work for agriculture. He argues it’s dramatically impacting California’s agricultural landscape.

“It’s horribly broken, and you can’t band-aid it together anymore,” Cunha tells U.S. Farm Report.

H-2A Program Doesn’t Work for California Agriculture

The H-2A guest worker program may work for some sectors of agriculture, but it’s not a comprehensive “fix” for agriculture — especially industries that rely on a large number of seasonal labor.

While the program is vital for addressing domestic labor shortages, for labor-intensive specialty crops like fruits and vegetables, the H-2A program is designed to provide a cortical legal source of labor where domestic workers are often unwilling or unavailable.

However, Cunha says what the H-2A guest worker program is designed to do, and how it actually works, are two different things.

“The cost is prohibitive. It’s a broken program. A guest worker program should be what it is. You go to the border, get a card and come into California or Arizona or wherever, work for 10 months and then leave,” Cunha says. “The system today requires people to through a process in the countries where you have recruiters that control the workers. They, in turn, kind of manipulate those workers where to go and how much you’re going to pay me, then the person comes here. On top of that, to provide required housing, transportation and meals is very costly. In this state, at $23 an hour, no farmer can afford that.”

Cunha says these are all reasons why the H-2A program must be reformed.

“We also must have a guest worker program for hotels, restaurants and construction to where those workers can come in here, they work for 10 months in a rotation, they go back and then they come back again,” Cunha says. “But it’s a guest worker program and not allowing the country to select and choose who you want. There has to be a great working relationship on a guest worker program that works for my industry and agriculture and the other industries as well.”

40-Year-Old Program

The last major immigration reform in the United States was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which granted legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants and increased penalties for employers hiring them.

The legislation, now 40 years old, is something Cunha argues is out of date.

Efforts to pass new immigration legislation have frequently failed due to partisan disagreements and an inability to find common ground between parties and administrations.

“They use it so they can get re-elected every time. And it’s so sad that our legislators have that type of mentality. Let’s not fix it, because if we say we’re going fix it, that’s how we’ll get elected. That’s how we’ll get re-elected,” Cunha says. “It’s been broken, and it’s been a facade.”

Dignity Act of 2025

Cunha says the only solution on the table that would work today is the Dignity Act of 2025. The bill was introduced on July 15 by Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX).

The bill not only focuses on securing the border, but it provides legal status to qualifying undocumented immigrants. It also imposes higher penalties for illegal border crossings and human and child sex trafficking. Not only would it address America’s farm labor crisis, but Cunha says it could help save agricultural industries that rely heavily on migrant labor across the U.S.

“This is the first real immigration bill that has addressed industries. The Farm Worker Modernization Act was just ag, and it really didn’t do all of ag. It only did the field and not the packing houses or the processing,” Cunha explains. “But being that we’re in the year 2025, many industries like agriculture have the same problem. Those workers have been there for years. And so somehow, we need to give them that opportunity to have a legal means to work here and to travel home.

Cunha says the U.S. has to do something new when it comes to immigration reform, and the Dignity Act of 2025 gives that life.

“The president continually gives off positive vibes: ‘I want the workers to stay here. They are important for the industries, agriculture, the restaurants, the hotels, the construction.’ So, those people need to be here. The bill absolutely deals with that. It makes them have dignity, respect and the fear of not being apprehended any part of the day, going to church or going to the hospital or whatever. They would have a legal card, and the bill’s doing that,” Cunha says.

For now, there’s a nervousness among workers in California — essential labor that supports California’s multi-billion-dollar farming community.

“The workers that are here are more than any H-2A worker that could ever come into the unit. We have 1.6 million. The Department of Labor couldn’t even handle that number if they wanted to bring in H-2A people. The system would blow up,” Cunha says.

California Farmers Are Hopeful

In June, President Donald Trump said he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country’s farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor.

Trump continues to send mixed signals on immigration policies — even with his hints of a fix for agriculture. According to preliminary Census Bureau data, analyzed by the Pew Research Center , the number of immigrant workers in the U.S. has declined by 1.2 million from January through the end of July. That figure includes people who are in the country illegally, as well as legal residents.

Peters says, considering the Trump administration continues to focus on agriculture, he is hanging onto hope. The hope is that Washington will finally find a long-term fix that helps farmers and protects the precious labor they can’t do without.

“They’re very talented workers,” Peters says. “They have skills, and they’re very hard to replace. You have to train the new person, and it’s how fast they pick up on the training. We’ve looked at robots that do pick fruit. The technology is coming, but it’s not there yet. It’s got a ways to go.”

Americans’ View on Immigration

Americans seem to be growing more positive toward immigration over the past year. According to a Gallup poll released in June, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.

According to Gallup, these shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021. And with illegal border crossings down sharply this year, the Gallup poll found fewer Americans back hard-line border enforcement measures, while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

Increased I-9 Audits Forcing Dairies to Fire Employees, Exposing Immigration Flaws; There is a Short-Term Fix

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:08:31 GMT

Nervousness and frustrations are spreading across the dairy industry. It’s not U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) raids causing the uneasiness. There’s now an increase in I-9 audits targeting dairies.

At least nine dairies were targeted with I-9 audits over the weekend, according a source in the dairy industry. That follows a South Dakota dairy who was surprised by an audit earlier this month. With reported flaws in the E-Verify system, the audits are resulting in dairies being forced to fire employees who are found to have illegal documents and only given 10 days to do so.

“I’ve heard it from both Texas and South Dakota dairy producers that they are having I-9 audits,” says Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. “Uncertain as to the timing if these audits were triggered before Trump came out and said he was going to pause enforcement on farms. Really, we haven’t seen the same level of enforcement on farms since he came out a few weeks ago and made those public statements. You’ve had some other public statements that have somewhat conflicted that, but it does feel like there’s a different posture from this administration right now.”

There have been reports of ICE raids in other areas, but the increase in I-9 audits is isolated to mainly two states: South Dakota and Texas so far.

“Honestly, what’s a little bit curious about that is those are both red states, and there seems to have been a focus more on blue states and red states. And you, one of those states seems to be the [Secretary Noem’s] home state,” he adds. “So, there’s some curiousness to it all. I’m really not sure what’s triggering these I-9 audits. Typically, our experience in Idaho when we’ve had a dairy producer go through an I-9, it’s usually triggered by a former employee complaining after they’ve been let go. That’s been kind of the trigger is somebody complaining and then DHS coming in and and conducting an I-9 audit after there’s been an accusation of employment of unauthorized individuals, but really not sure, you know, what triggered these in those two states.”

What the Dairy Industry is Pushing to Change

Even though it seems to be isolated to South Dakota and Texas, it’s creating a nervousness on dairies across the country. And that’s because of the increased issues it’s causing with labor.

The dairy industry seems to be on an island when it comes to finding a legal workforce. Dairies aren’t seasonal, therefore they can’t utilize H-2A , and that’s something the dairy industry is pushing to change.

John Boelts, an Arizona farmer who’s also president of Arizona Farm Bureau, says the farther you get from the border, the more challenging it is to find enough labor within agriculture.

“We need programs that really address what we need in agriculture as far as on a labor basis,” Boelts says. “Many will point to H-2A and say, ‘Well, you have an uncapped H-2A guest worker program,’ and that’s a valid point. However, I’d like to point out that H-2A was designed very keenly not to work very well, to be cumbersome, challenging, expensive, all of the things that don’t fit very well into an agricultural model. That said, it’s the lifeline that American agriculture has today.”

H-2A is a program widely used in agriculture, but one that has drawn criticism for not only the rising cost, but also how complex it is. Those in agriculture argue the system, as it exists today, doesn’t do enough to cover the vastness of American agriculture. That includes dairy farms, dairy processors and produce processors.

And while H-2A is far from perfect, the dairy industry can’t use H-2A today, the one guest worker program that does exist, according to Donald Grady, the senior director of legislative affairs at the international dairy foods association.

“The H-2A program, while it works for large swaths of agriculture doesn’t work for dairy. And because of the fact that dairy is a 365-day-a-year operation, it doesn’t matter — Christmas, New Year’s, your birthday — cows must get milked. And that milk needs to get processed for Americans to safely consume it,” Grady says. “So we are looking to be able to expand the H-2A program so that dairy operations on-farm and in the plant can have another tool in their toolbox to meet their labor needs.”

Changes Are Needed to H-2A to Include Dairies

Grady says for dairy to be able to use the H-2A program in the U.S., the seasonality requirements in the program would need to change to year round. That’s one fix.

“But for processors, we need another specific change, and that is a change to the definition of agriculture, labor and services,” Grady says. “Right now, it does not include processing that does not happen on the farm. So, if you’re on a farm like a packing house for a fruit and vegetable operation, you can still use H-2A workers in that packing plant. But if that packing plan were just across the street and not on the farm, you couldn’t use those workers there. Dairy, obviously, the processing is largely located away from the farm. And so for us to be able to access H-2A, we need to change the definition of ag labor and services so that processing can be included.”

It’s a short-term fix, for what the dairy industry calls a long-term problem. Labor issues have plagued the dairy industry for decades, and it’s a situation that’s only getting worse.

“We need to figure out how we can simply improve our labor pool so that we can meet the needs that we have,” Grady says. “I think as we hear from our IDFA members across the board, we are down about 10% on our labor needs. That accounts to thousands and thousands and thousands of workers. When you look at the fact that we are over 3 million in the dairy manufacturing, retail and marketing side. So when you’re looking at just in the plant, that’s thousands of workers that we need. And this is a tool that would be able to help us in the immediacy.”

There is Momentum for Change

Even though there’s an increase in I-9 audits on dairies, leaders within the dairy industry say for the first time in nearly two decades, there does seem to be momentum for changes to the H-2A program and address the pain points with the current immigration system.

“You do hear some really good things coming from the administration right now about trying to solve the farm labor crisis, and it’s never had this amount of focus from any president, serious amount of focus, and it feels like there’s a serious amount of focus and an earnest desire to try and do something to solve our problem for us, which is a blessing,” Naerebout says. “We’ve been rebuffed by both Republican and Democrat presidencies in the past. We’ve been rebuffed by Republican and Democratic controlled Congresses, and to have a president take this issue on and begin to try and address it, and he and some of his secretaries have taken some pretty strong heat for for trying to solve this problem from his base, but he seems to be really, you know, earnest in trying to find a solution for us.”

E-Verify System is Also Exposing Flaws

One dairy operation was forced to fire nearly 40 employees, as they still scramble to find employees to back fill those jobs. That’s creating a new concern: Are the labor shortages a matter of animal welfare?

“I don’t think we’re quite there,” Naerebout says. “That’s always a concern, especially if you have a number of these audits that happen in a given area, and if you see a response like we saw in New Mexico a month or two ago where the response to that I-9 audit seemed to be DHS showing up and, you know, hauling workers away. That’s new.”

It’s not like these dairies are knowingly hiring individuals with false records. All dairy farms are required to use the E-Verify system, but the recent focus on finding illegal immigrants has exposed another issue: The E-Verify system is also flawed.

It’s a system that’s been used for more than two decades. For employers to make sure they are hiring legal immigrants, they use E-Verify, which is a government program that verifies those employees are authorized to work in the U.S.

In other words, these dairy operations are hiring employees who have been vetted through the E-Verify system. Yet, once an I-9 audit happens, it’s exposing that some of those employees submitted either illegal paperwork, or forms that weren’t theirs. And there’s no way for a dairy to know. That’s what the E-Verify system is meant to do.

It’s a long-standing frustration for dairies who’ve always been exposed to I-9 audits. It’s just until recently, the I-9 audits haven’t been as frequent.

“I definitely feel it’s flawed,” Naerebout says. “We also feel very strongly that it should not be on the employer to determine legal status of people in the country. That should be the job of the federal government. They shouldn’t be putting that on any employer, whether it’s agriculture or any other sector of the economy. That’s an unfair burden to put on the employer.”

What Needs to Happen Long-Term to Fix the Immigration System for Agriculture?

What needs to happen in the long-term? That solution lies with Congress. In order for the U.S. to address immigration laws that were written in 1986, it will take an act of Congress.

“We need to figure out how we can create a system that benefits our farmers by giving them access to workers and benefits the workers so that they can be able to cross the border legally and safely without having to feel like they’re going to get trapped in their home country and not be able to come back and work or feel as though they have to use different means to try and get into this country,” Grady says.

“We need a system that would benefit workers just as much as employers, but it’s the employers who need the workers for sure,” Boelts says.

The reality for growers like Boelts is no matter how high of wages producers pay, they are having more trouble finding the labor needed to fuel the U.S. with fresh produce and food.

“The challenge is for the American consumers, they need to look at it from a fairness standpoint,” Boelts says. “A worker working in Mexico harvesting broccoli or lettuce that then is shipped into the United States, might make $20 a day. Where we’re often offering around $20 plus an hour to work here in the United States. So it just doesn’t make sense. There’s really no reason why we shouldn’t be producing for the U.S. market right here in the U.S.”

Agriculture argues Congress needs to step in. Boelts says he is appreciative for an administration that is listening to farmers. So, what would Boelts tell the Trump administration when it comes to immigration? It’s this:

“I would ask the president and Secretary Rollins to take on a position of leadership, speak to both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, and say, ‘Look, you’ve been hearing about this for years from farmers and ranchers all over the country. We all know what needs to happen. We need to reform agricultural workers, the public policy governing folks coming into the country, both temporarily and permanently. We need options for agricultural producers.’”

Boelts says the solution can’t just be the argument that there is a temporary guest worker program that exists today, because that system is been broken.

“We have cows that need to be milked, livestock that needs to be tended day in and day out, sometimes year round, sometimes temporarily. We needed a program that’s designed to work for American agriculture, period,” Boelts says.

Naerebout agrees that even with the headlines focused on ICE raids, and now increased audits, President Donald Trump is listening to farmers and fixing what many argue is a broken immigration system, and we might finally see some solutions.

“We’ve not had this kind of traction with an administration ever on this issue,” he says. “Maybe Reagan, but I was 7 years old when Ronald Reagan worked on this issue back in 1986, so I can’t really speak to what the mood was then, but we’re cautiously optimistic here in Idaho. We’re watching what the president’s saying, we’re continuing to stay in close contact with our Senate and congressional offices to continue to make sure that when they get the opportunities to put a bug in the president’s ear, and anybody in the administration’s ear about our needs, that that’s happening.”

Naerebout says after 20 plus years, he thinks agriculture finally has a legitimate chance on solving a problem that’s been plaguing the industry. And that solution needs to not only come from the White House, but the long-term fix needs to be addressed by Congress.

Rollins Says H-2A Reforms Likely Soon

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 19:52:59 GMT

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the administration is looking at ways to improve the efficiency of the H-2A guestworker program and make it easier for growers to use. Rollins made the announcement during a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association held in Santa Fe, N.M.

The administration will have more details coming soon as well as announcements from the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security.

“We have all been directed by the president to come up with solutions to fix and solve this problem immediately,” Rolins says.

Rollins acknowledges Congress will play a key role in larger H-2A visa reform.

“It’s a congressional act,” she says. “Significant changes can’t occur without our partners on the Hill.”

But she also adds H-2A reform is a bipartisan issue, and while long-term fixes are on the table, there’s an opportunity in the short term to alleviate the burden of the application process.

“The idea that the farm I visited this morning, here in New Mexico, Silver Leaf Farms, they provide 250,000 heads of lettuce to local schools and communities here in New Mexico,” she says. “They don’t have the capability when they need to hire a couple more workers for their harvest to hire and spend tens of thousands, if not more, on legal help to get them through.”

Rollins says the administration seeks to improve the processes to ensure growers have the workforce needed.

“How we can streamline the current process, obviously within current law, to make sure it is much more efficient, that those we are bringing in from Mexico or from wherever, from around the world, to work the fields, to ensure we have the labor force we need, that they’re able to do that efficiently, effectively and not cost prohibitively,” she says.

Agriculture in the Bull's-Eye: Raids Reportedly Resume on Farms, Meatpacking Plants

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:40:22 GMT

After President Donald Trump reportedly ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE ) to pause raids on farms and meatpacking plants last week, new reports say the administration is reversing course again. The on-again, off-again reports regarding ICE raids is sowing confusion for those who rely on immigrant labor and already causing labor shortages due to employees not showing up for work.

There was an update again late Friday, with President Trump saying he’s looking at new immigration policy steps that would allow farms to take responsibility for people they hire.

The Washington Post first reported Monday that ICE officials told leaders representing field offices across the country they must continue to conduct raids at worksite locations, which is a reversal from guidance issued just days earlier.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wouldn’t confirm the Washington Post’s report, but an agricultural association told Farm Journal the article is accurate based on their discussions with the administration.

Instead, DHS told us this:

“The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,” says DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”

By Friday, there was another update. Reuters reported President Trump said he was looking at immigration policy steps that would allow farms to take responsibility for people they hire.

“We’re looking at doing something where, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business,” Trump told reporters. “And at the same time we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals.”

According to Farm Journal’s Michelle Rook, the recent ICE raids are already creating absenteeism and labor shortages that could severally disrupt the U.S. food supply. Ag groups are again calling for immigration reform with hopes the issue will finally come to a head.

Ripple Effect of Immigration Crackdown

Joe Del Bosque, owner of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, Calif., is experiencing the rollercoaster with labor, saying the shifting policy strikes fear in farmers and workers.

“There’s so much uncertainty as to what the administration’s going to do,” Del Bosque told Rook on AgriTalk this week.

Del Bosque says the raids on California produce farms are disrupting the harvest of perishable produce.

“They haven’t been really huge sweeps. They’re usually picking up a few people. But it creates a lot of fear, and people don’t show up to work. That’s just as bad as if they were taken away,” he says.

According to an exclusive report by Farm Journal’s The Packer , the ripple effect of Trump’s immigration crackdown on agriculture could be far-reaching — if the administration revives its focus on ag.

Kevin Kelly is the CEO of Emerald Packaging — the largest flexible packaging supplier to the leafy greens industry. Based in Union City, Calif., the company has been in the packaging business for 62 years. Kelly says the immigrant workforce in California is feeling uncertain and afraid.

“We’ve certainly heard folks aren’t turning up to work in the fields, and we’ve seen it in our facility. We verify everybody, so we know everybody in our facility is documented and can legally work in the United States,” Kelly tells Jennifer Strailey, editor of The Packer. “In our case, it’s brothers and sisters being deported, and other family members being afraid. Our employees are staying home to help their family members move, to take care of them or to take them to see an attorney — that kind of thing.”

Dairy operations in several states have also been raided recently. Dairy producers say they rely on immigrant labor to provide a stable year-round work force and to keep the U.S. food supply stable.

“We need these people to take care of our animals so we can produce food. Without animal care, we won’t have milk, cheese, butter — nothing,” Greg Moes, MoDak Dairy in Goodwin, S.D., told Rook.

The recent ICE arrests at Glenn Valley Foods of Omaha, Neb. have also led to absenteeism at meat processing plants.

“At the beginning of the Trump administration, we had this same worry with the crackdown — whether this was going to impact absenteeism and things like that,” says Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek in Sioux Center, Iowa. “So, hopefully we can put that in our rearview mirror.”

By the Numbers: A Heavy Reliance on Immigrant Labor
The news this week of the Trump administration putting a pause on raids of farms and meat processors is welcome news for those in agriculture. From dairies and produce farms, to meatpacking plants across the U.S., these sectors rely heavily on immigrant labor.

Immigrant labor makes up a substantial portion of the meat processing workforce, with estimates ranging from 37% to over 50%. However, states like South Dakota and Nebraska have even higher concentrations of immigrant workers in meat processing — reaching 58% and 66%, according to the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute.

And a large portion of U.S. dairy farms rely on immigrant labor, with estimates indicating that over half of all dairy workers are immigrants. Specifically, these workers account for 51% of the total dairy workforce and are responsible for producing 79% of the U.S. milk supply.

Farmworker Justice estimates 70% of the produce industry’s farmworkers are immigrants. USDA’s estimates are lower — closer to 60%.

A Sigh of Relief? Trump Orders Pause on ICE Raids of Farms, Meatpacking Plants

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:58:50 GMT

President Donald Trump is reportedly ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE ) to pause raids on farms and meatpacking plants, softening the potential blow to industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor. The news comes after a week of ICE seemingly targeting dairy farms, California produce farms and a meat packing plant in Nebraska.

New York Times first reported on Thursday Trump said he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country’s farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on immigrant labor. According to reports, the new directive still allows for investigations into serious crimes such as human trafficking.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told “U.S. Farm Report” in a statement.

The Department of Homeland Security and top White House officials continue to say that ICE is targeting “criminals” and “criminal illegal aliens.” However, as more dairy farms and a meat production plant were targeted, that called into question if it’s just criminals ICE was targeting.

Recent Raids on Farms and Meatpacking Plants

The raid on Glenn Valley Foods, a meat production plant in Omaha, Neb., drew national attention. That raid is what the Department of Homeland Security called the “largest worksite enforcement operation” in the state during the Trump presidency.

Glenn Valley Foods was founded in 2009 by Gary Rohwer, and according to their website they sell steak, chicken and corned beef products to restaurants and grocery stores. Rohwer said he was surprised by the raid and had followed the rules regarding immigration status. The plant used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees’ immigration status. But the warrant by ICE officials that said they had identified 107-people who they believed were using fraudulent documents.

Congressman Don Bacon, R-Neb., told local media 75 to 80 people were detained, but four people were also arrested for assaulting ICE agents during the operation. Officials say an investigation is ongoing and additional arrests could be forthcoming, authorities said.

“While carrying out an enforcement operation in Omaha, Nebraska an illegal alien from Honduras threatened federal officers and agents with a box cutter. These are the type of threats and assaults our brave law enforcement face every day as they put their lives on the line to protect and defend the lives of American citizens,” McLauglin also said in a statement to Farm Journal. “Our ICE enforcement officers and agents are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them. Thankfully, no ICE law enforcement was hurt in this operation. The operation was successful and resulted in the arrest of 76 illegal aliens. This was the largest worksite enforcement operation in Nebraska under the Trump administration.”

It’s not just meatpacking plants that saw increased ICE presence last week. Immigration officials also continue to visit dairy farms across the country. There were reports of raids from South Dakota to New Mexico.

@HSIElPaso executed a search warrant at Outlook Dairy Farms in NM & arrested 11 illegal aliens for violations of fraud & misuse of visas, permits & other documents. 1 was previously removed from the US, 9 banned from the US. LeaCountySO HSILasCruces HSI Roswell #EROElPaso #WSE pic.twitter.com/PzLKBJIdQE
— HSI El Paso (@HSIElPaso) June 4, 2025

ICE shared a photo on X saying it executed a search warrant at “Outlook Dairy Farms” in Lovington, N.M. Officials say they arrested 11 people for violations of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents, including nine who investigators say were already banned from the U.S.

The owner of the dairy farm told the Albuquerque Journal that the people arrested supplied him with false paperwork and that following an audit before the raid he’d been required to fire 24 other workers on the farm.

Worries were starting to mount as ICE raids ramped up on dairy farms, according to DairyHerd.com .

By the Numbers: A Heavy Reliance on Immigrant Labor

The news this week of the Trump administration putting a pause on raids of farms and meat processors is welcome news for those in agriculture. From dairies and produce farms, to meatpacking plants across the U.S., those are sectors that rely heavily on immigrant labor.

Immigrant labor makes up a substantial portion of the meat processing workforce, with estimates ranging from 37% to over 50%; however, states like South Dakota and Nebraska have even higher concentrations of immigrant workers in meat processing, reaching 58% and 66%, according to the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute

And a large portion of U.S. dairy farms rely on immigrant labor, with estimates indicating that over half of all dairy workers are immigrants. Specifically, these workers account for 51% of the total dairy workforce and are responsible for producing 79% of the U.S. milk supply.

Farmworker Justice estimates 70% of the produce industry’s farmworkers are immigrants. USDA’s estimates are lower, estimating that number is closer to 60%.

Ripple Effect of Immigration Crackdown

No matter the exact number, it’s clear agriculture- and the produce industry- relies on an immigrant workforce. According to an exclusive report by Farm Journal’s The Packer , the ripple effect of Trump’s immigration crackdown on agriculture could be far-reaching, if the administration revives its focus on ag.

Kevin Kelly is CEO of Emerald Packaging, which is the largest flexible packaging supplier to the leafy greens industry and based in Union City, Calif. The company has been in the packaging business for 62 years, and says the immigrant workforce in California is feeling uncertain and afraid.

“We’ve certainly heard that folks aren’t turning up to work in the fields, and we’ve seen it in our facility. And we verify everybody, so we know everybody in our facility is documented and can legally work in the United States,” Kelly tells Jennifer Strailey, editor of The Packer. “In our case, it’s brothers and sisters being deported, and other family members being afraid, and our employees staying home to help their family members move, to take care of them or to take them to see an attorney, that kind of thing.”

In an early morning raid, ICE agents are seen chasing farmworkers through an Oxnard field. The raids coming as the federal gov't ramps up immigration enforcement in SoCal. Continuing coverage of the ICE raids, protests and unrest - Tonight at 11 from ABC7. https://t.co/bSJpCk8byb pic.twitter.com/oQQismAu2j
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 11, 2025

He says there’s an irony taking place, as some of their employees voted for the current administration with the assumption only criminals would be targeted in an immigration crackdown. But he says “that’s clearly not what’s happening.” He says harvesting lettuce is back-breaking work, and it’s work that they can only find immigrant labor to do.

“We should be handing them gold stars, not throwing them out of the country,” Kelly says.

Kelly adds that half of the nation’s farm labor is undocumented. That includes electricians, plumbers and welders that the U.S. all relies on.

“And now it’s suddenly occurring to us that we rely on them?” he says.

The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), a national association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint, recently sent a letter to the Trump administratio n.

“The Council and our members are encouraged by President Trump’s recent comments recognizing the critical importance of the agricultural workforce. His comments are spot on. After years of being subjected to pejorative policies that ignored the realities of rural America and often demonized those living and working in those communities, the President’s comments are a welcome change of pace: we must protect our Farmers,” NCAE stated in the letter.

NCAE also said “he success or failure of America’s hardworking farmers and ranchers largely depends upon their ability to find ready, willing, able, and qualified labor to help them complete the countless tasks it takes to grow food to feed the nation and the world.”

Why Can’t Congress Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform

It’s evident immigration reform is a major issue for agriculture. No matter who you talk to in agriculture, if they use any part of the immigration system, they will tell you it’s broken.

With an inadequate immigration system in the U.S., why can’t it be fixed? According to agricultural economists surveyed in Farm Journal’s Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , it’s too political.

One economist said, “Immigration reform is a huge issue for the U.S. economy and must be addressed. However, it is so politically sensitive that very few Senators or Congressmen are willing to push the issue.”

“Congress has a vested interest in keeping this issue unresolved in the current partisan environment,” said another economist.

“Getting anything started and passed in an election year will be tough, let alone something as confrontational as immigration,” was another economists’ response.

Greater border enforcement and mass deportations were two major pledges made by Trump as he campaigned to reclaim the White House. But as Congress continues to debate Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” immigration reform doesn’t seem to be on Congress’ near-term agenda.

Your Next Reads:

Bracing for Significant Disruption: Q&A with Emerald Packaging CEO Kevin Kelly in Wake of ICE Raids

Worries Mount as ICE Raids Ramp Up On Dairy Farms

U.S. Immigration Officials Raid Meat Production Plant in Omaha, Dozens Detained

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:07:01 GMT

An immigration raid on Tuesday at a meat production plant in Omaha, Nebraska was the “largest worksite enforcement operation” in the state during the Trump presidency, the Homeland Security Department said.

U.S. Congressman Don Bacon told local media 75-80 people were detained.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid happened at a plant of Glenn Valley Foods. The food packaging company said it was surprised by the raid and had followed the rules regarding immigration status.

Chad Hartmann, president of Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, said the plant that was raided used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees’ immigration status. He told Reuters that when he said this to a federal agent, the agent responded “the system is broken” and urged him to contact his local congressional representative.

ICE officers have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to deliver on U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise of record-level deportations. The White House has demanded the agency sharply increase arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, sources have told Reuters.

Tensions boiled over in Los Angeles over the weekend when protesters took to the streets after ICE arrested migrants at Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse, according to migrant advocates.

Local police in Omaha said they were informed by immigration officials about the raid in advance while the company said it got no notice about the operation ahead of time.

Hartmann said federal agents had a warrant that said they had identified 107 people who they believed were using fraudulent documents.

“This was the largest worksite enforcement operation in Nebraska under the Trump Administration,” the Homeland Security Department said on X, adding no law enforcement official was hurt.

While carrying out an enforcement operation in Omaha, Nebraska an illegal alien from Honduras threated federal officers and agents with a box cutter.

These are the type of threats and assaults our brave law enforcement face every day as they put their lives on the line to… https://t.co/K6427agqlS
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 11, 2025

ICE said a criminal investigation was ongoing into what immigration officials called a large-scale employment of immigrants who are present in the U.S. illegally.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States,” an ICE spokesperson told an ABC News affiliate.

More than half of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank.

Rights advocates, including the ACLU of Nebraska, condemned the raid.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Michael Perry)

Trump Suggests Farmers Could Petition to Keep Workers Without Legal Status

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 14:28:28 GMT

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that farmers will be able to petition the federal government to retain some farmworkers in the U.S. illegally, provided the workers leave the country and return with legal status.

Trump’s comments during his Cabinet meeting are, though vague, the most detail the administration has provided on the fate of the nation’s farmworkers without legal status — who make up half the farm sector’s workforce — under his plan for mass deportations.

Farm industry groups have warned that deporting large numbers of agricultural workers would grind the food system to a halt. In addition to farming, many workers without legal status are also employed in the meat and dairy industries.

“We’re going to work with farmers that, if they have strong recommendations for their farms, for certain people, that we’re going to let them stay in for a while and work with the farmers and then come back and go through a process, a legal process. We have to take care of our farmers and hotels and various places where they need the people,” Trump said.

“A farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people saying, they’re great, they’re working hard, we’re going to slow it down a little bit for them and then we’re going to ultimately bring them back. They’ll go out, they’re going to come back as legal workers,” he said.

The White House and the Department of Agriculture did not respond to requests to clarify the policy or when it will be implemented.

During his first administration, Trump promised the farm sector that deportations would not affect agricultural workers, but has made no such promise in this term.

Immigrant farmworkers prepared for the Trump administration by assigning guardians to their children in the case of their detention and taking other precautions.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Where Will Farmworkers Come From in the Future?

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 15:04:22 GMT

As the dynamics of the global workforce continue to evolve, so too must the strategies to hire and retain an adequate on-farm labor force in the U.S.

The shrinking pool of workers in rural areas is a real concern for farmers, says Richard Stup, senior Extension associate and agricultural workforce specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension. One striking example is the declining birth rate in countries, such as Mexico, that historically have been sources of agricultural labor for the U.S.

“[The population in] Mexico, going forward, will begin to actually shrink,” he shared at the 2025 Western Dairy Management Conference. “It’s not just Mexico. There are a lot of countries in this situation.”

In addition to a smaller pool of workers willing to fill on-farm vacancies, economic opportunities in these countries, such as an increase in Mexico’s inflation-adjusted dollars, are reducing the push factor for migration.

“It means there’s more economic activity, there’s more job opportunity and there’s less push to leave Mexico and go to the U.S. for dollars,” he says. “There’s still a lot of push to come up here, but it’s not what it used to be.”

When looking at the data, Stup notes fewer young people are looking for work.

“The average age of foreign-born employees is about 42 years,” he says. For comparison, the average age of U.S. born employees on farms is 36 years old.

Two Employment Solutions
Despite these dynamics, immigration will still play a significant role in sustaining the on-farm workforce. To address workforce challenges, Stup says a couple programs exist:

One is the H-2A visa program, which allows an unlimited number of agricultural workers to enter the U.S., provided the work is temporary or seasonal.
Another viable option is the TN Visa, born from agreements such as NAFTA, enabling skilled professionals from Canada and Mexico to enter the U.S. for professional endeavors.

Navigating these pathways requires producers to have their paperwork, such as I-9 forms, in order, especially with current enforcement trends focusing on individuals with criminal backgrounds.

“It seems pretty consistent that most of the enforcement from ICE is in pursuit of individuals that have some kind of criminal background,” he shares.

With an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., producers are advised to stay vigilant and prepared. It’s important to keep necessary documentation, such as I-9 forms, social security copies and identification such as driver’s licenses, well-organized and readily accessible, encourages Jamie Castaneda, executive vice president of policy development and strategy for the National Milk Producers Federation. Ensuring all paperwork is in compliance with federal and state laws is paramount if faced with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspection.

Embrace Technology and Workforce Development
Technology offers solutions to improve on-farm efficiency. Artificial intelligence (AI), for instance, can optimize tasks, allowing human workers to focus on animals requiring attention.

“Technology is going to be used in places where the work is repetitive and where it’s kind of heavy manual labor,” Stup says.

Workforce development is crucial as well. Supup underscores the need for retention programs and attracting a diverse pool of workers. Skills such as critical and systems thinking, data savviness and comfort with animals will be essential for future dairy workers. Education, whether formal or through on-the-job training, is equally important.

Build a Supportive Work Environment
To attract and maintain a robust workforce, it’s essential to create a positive work environment. Stup highlights the role of supervisors in leading effectively by setting clear expectations, providing necessary training and development, and giving constructive feedback on performance.

“We need to do what we can to retain and create a great place to work,” he says, noting supervisors need to lead effectively.

Supervisors need to spell out three main factors for employees:
1. Expectations. Clearly communicate what is expected of employees, including job descriptions, SOPs and onboarding.

2. Training and Development. Train, coach and use other efforts to teach knowledge, skills and attitudes.

3. Feedback. Give employees information about their performance to help them improve.

The future of the on-farm workforce will be diverse, comprising immigrants and individuals from various backgrounds, including those from urban environments new to agriculture. Balancing the need for manual and mental labor remains appealing, drawing in those uninterested in traditional office roles. The key is to retain and foster talent in the agriculture sector, giving rise to a dynamic and inclusive workforce that will carry the industry forward.

By adopting these strategies, farms can adapt to the shifting landscape, ensuring productivity and sustainability in the face of workforce changes.

Your Next Read: Rethinking the Term ‘Cheap Labor’ in the Dairy Industry

30 Minutes With Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins In Her First Week On the Job

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:12:47 GMT

Since Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 , Brooke Rollins has been focused on how to build the teams and the plans that impact the trajectory of agriculture and rural America. On that day, while en route with her husband and four teenagers in their motor home to Auburn, Ala., for the Texas A&M football game, she got a call from now President Donald Trump. The purpose of his call: She was his top choice to fill his final significant cabinet position, Secretary of Agriculture.

Obviously, she had to wait for confirmation, which came last week on Feb.13 when the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed her as the 33^rd Secretary of Agriculture , but since that Saturday before Thanksgiving, she’s been on the go with an accelerated enthusiasm to understand the significant challenges facing rural communities that lost 147,000 family farms between 2017 and 2022 and why the cost of inputs are up 30% as exports are down $37 billion this year and likely to fall further in the months to come.

“This is a crisis, and this is something that I understand inherently,” Rollins said to kick off Top Producer Summit in Kansas City on Tuesday. “My promise to you is this, and my commitment will never waver, that every minute of every day for the next four years I will do everything within my power, with hopefully God’s hand on all of us and our work, to ensure we are not just entering the golden age for America, as my boss, President Trump, likes to say, but we are entering the golden age for agriculture.”

What Has Rollins Been Up to the Past Four Years?
Secretary Rollins and President Trump have worked together for almost eight years. She was in the West Wing with him for years two, three and four of his first term running his domestic policy agenda.

“This real estate guy from New York City brought that vision to life, and then in the last term, was able to really do some remarkable things,” Rollins said in regard to President Trump returning power to the people who just want a chance at the American dream. “I call it the great pause, the four years in between term one and term two. But I think the great pause allowed very intentional planning. It allowed a courageous and bold leader in President Trump to become a fearless leader and to do everything he can to bring America back to greatness.”

In the “dark days of January 2021,” as she described, Secretary Rollins helped launch the America First Policy Institute, a think tank established by former Trump officials to promote conservative policies. The idea was that those policies that made America great in Trump’s first term would continue indefinitely, not just for a second term, but for four years, eight years or 36 years, Rollins described.

First Week On the Job
Since being confirmed last week, Secretary Rollins has been in the Washington, D.C., USDA office for a few hours, but most of her time has been spent in Kentucky at National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and Gallrein Farms and in Kansas visiting Finney’s County Feeder, High Plains Ponderosa Dairy and the National Beef Packing Plant .

Describing herself as “a reader and a studier,” Rollins seems adamant to hear firsthand from farmers and ranchers. She referenced her visits to the dairy farm and National Beef facility as inspiring, in a good way but also in a way that helps her understand the real challenges at hand.

Speaking to the crowd at Top Producer Summit, she shared her appreciation for the “entrepreneurial American game changers” who are doing their part to feed the world.

“It is so inspiring and a reminder of the very beginning of our country.” Rollins said. “Our revolution was fought by farmers, our Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The backbone of the great American experiment is this community.”

Thank you @topproducermag for hosting @RogerMarshallMD and me in Kansas City, Missouri, with 1,000 of the Top Producers from across the US to talk about issues like expanding trade access and cutting regulatory red tape for farmers.

Biden’s ZERO trade deals and inflationary… pic.twitter.com/ejMxKxkRMG
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) February 19, 2025

Farmer Q&A
Watch and listen to what Secretary Rollins, as well as Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, had to say on stage at Top Producer Summit about these 7 topics:

Trade and tariffs — “ Let’s go barnstorm the world , and let’s go find some more trade partners and access [to market opportunities],” Rollins said.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts and modernizing USDA — “DOGE is a very valid and important effort across all government. The stories of waste and abuse were really just, not USDA specific but across government, beginning,” Rollins said.
Federal programs, such as CSP and EQIP — “Our commitment is that if there have been commitments made, those will be honored. Getting our arms around all of that right now is really, really, important. Again, going back to the President’s heart and commitment to our farmers, I feel confident we will be able to solve any issues that are in front of our ag community, that are potentially being compromised by the DOGE effort, while at the same time recognizing how very, very important it is,” Rollins said.
Future of USDA — “There’s no question USDA needs some modernization. I’m just beginning to lean into that as well,” Rollins said. USDA has 106,000 employees and 29 departments. “The Secretary is taking over a department where only 6% of the [D.C.] people work in the office,” Marshall added.
Renewable fuels — Prior to President Trump’s first term, he was “the first major candidate to support biofuels, and I think that carried him through Iowa in many ways. … We’ve got E15 year-round. I think that gives us some certainty as well. … The President is supporting that. I think we’re trying to figure out how to save 45Z, but we can’t let China benefit from it. Right now, China is benefiting more from [45Z] than my farmers and ranchers are, so we’ve got to fix that,” Marshall says.
Immigration policies and availability of long-term labor — “I have a full-bodied understanding of the challenges within the labor market, and I believe the President does too. … I believe that we will very soon be talking about it again. Clearly, the H-2A program needs significant reform, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, she’s going through the [confirmation] process right now. … Hopefully she’ll get her vote very soon. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Rollins said.
Trump’s cabinet members — “Our cabinet is comprised of people that have been working together and have been friends and colleagues for years, with a few exceptions. Bobby Kennedy is a new friend, but Lee Zeldin and I worked together in America First Works and America First Policy Institute for the last almost four years, Linda McMahon in education and John Brooks — these are our people,” Rollins said.

The True Cost of What Farmers Argue is a Broken Immigration System in the U.S.

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 17:38:46 GMT

Situated on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Joe Del Bosque is a first-generation farmer in central California . The son of migrant workers, he conquered the American dream by starting his own farming operation in California in 1985.

“My father was a farm manager, so I grew up on a farm doing exactly what I’m doing today,” Del Bosque says.

He grows organic melons, including cantaloupes, honey dew and watermelons. He also grows organic processing tomatoes, as well as almonds and cherries. Del Bosque is one of the largest, if not the largest, melon grower for Whole Foods.

A Crop That Must Be Hand-Picked

Del Bosque says a lot has changed in his 40 years of running his own farm, but what hasn’t changed is the fact that most of what he produces on his operation has to be hand-picked.

“Melons are highly perishable,” he says. “When they’re ready, they’ve got to be picked.”

Del Bosque says if their crew would miss even a couple days of work, the farm would be at risk of losing a crop.

“The produce has to be picked by hand by people who can see the fruit. And these people are skilled and seeing ripe fruit and how to pick it,” he explains.

The Need for Seasonal Labor

Del Bosque and other California growers rely heavily on seasonal labor. His produce is ready to be harvested between June and October, and during those crucial months. Del Bosque relies on 150 seasonal employees to help pick the fruit.

“We have scaled back,” Del Bosque says. “I would say 6 or 8 years ago; we were at probably 300 to 350 employees.

Between water issues and the switch from conventional farming to organic, which reduced their acres, Del Bosque now employs half of what he did eight years ago. And still, one of his biggest challenges is finding enough labor.

“It’s not been easy, but we have found enough labor,” Del Bosque adds. “We try to focus mostly on local labor. That doesn’t mean they’re not immigrant labor; they are immigrants who just live locally.”

Mass Deportation Concerns

They also have crews that come from Arizona for just the season, but one thing they’re no longer able to do is find seasonal labor from Mexico that work for a few months and then return back home.

“During the Obama years, he tightened the border tremendously. And sometimes both people couldn’t come anymore. So that’s why we tried to focus more on getting people that were living permanently here in this country,” Del Bosque says.

That’s when the struggles with labor shortages started for Del Bosque and other farmers, with mass deportations in his own community.

“He tightened the border a tremendous amount,” he adds. “He deported more people than Trump and Biden put together. He departed almost 3 million people, which is a lot of people, during his two terms. I’ve heard that it was an average of 1,000 people per day. So, yes, labor got very tight then. That was when we felt probably the most of labor shortages and we lost fruit sometimes during those terms.”

As the Trump Administration took office, promises of immigration crackdown and mass deportations are back in the focus again.

According to the latest data from Statista, as of Feb. 5, the Trump administration had deported a total of 4,745 Latin American undocumented immigrants. Those individuals were returned to their country of origin and 4,094 of those deported were Mexican citizens.

With mass deportation back in focus again, Del Bosque says there’s a nervousness on farms, and in their rural communities, not felt since the Obama administration.

“There are no big cities. There are small towns of anywhere from 7 to 14,000 people. And those small towns are mostly farmworkers,” Del Bosque says. “And we would not be able to farm out here without these people.”

White House Says Ag Isn’t the Target

Stephen Miller, who serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and as Homeland Security, appeared on CNN, defending the President’s mass deportation plan and said the target isn’t agriculture.

“Only 1% of alien workers in the entire country work in agriculture. The top destination for illegal aliens is large cities like New York, Los Angeles and small industrial towns, of course, all across the heartland. None of those illegal aliens are doing farm work,” Miller says.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

(Mike Byers )

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, immigrant workers comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce, contributing more than $80 billion in taxes annually.

And with shortages of labor already, the concern is mass deportation of those immigrants who follow the law, could make that shortage worse and drive inflation.

Labor Shortages

Not having enough ag labor is problem farmers are dealing with all across the country. Just ask Marc Arnusch, who used to be one of the largest onion growers in the U.S.

“There was a morning where I came out into the field and I had 250 workers helping transplant a crop out of Arizona into a field here in Colorado. And the following day I had nine employees. You just can’t control a variable like that,” the Keenesburg, Colorado farmer told AgDay’s Clinton Griffiths.

At the time, Arnusch was one of the largest growers of onions, a crop that used as Blooming Onions in popular restaurants. But when labor become too lucrative, he decided to completely walk away from growing onions.

A Broken Immigration System

Grower after grower will tell you the immigration system in the U.S. doesn’t work for agriculture.

“It’s definitely broken,” Del Bosque says.

“We’re up at 40 years from not having passed comprehensive immigration reform in this country. And it sure doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in the next year,” says Mary Kay Thatcher, senior lead for federal government relations at Syngenta.

Thatcher says even if the U.S. doesn’t pass immigration reform, H-2A is becoming too expensive for many growers to even use.

“I have been hearing story after story in the hallways here about really good producers and strong competitors having to go out of business because they just can’t afford the new effective minimum wage rate along with the other mandates that get put on them, be it transportation cost or housing cost or whatever for H-2A,” she adds.

Del Bosque says they’ve never used H-2A, and one reason is because of the cost and all the other requirements involved.

“H-2A is very expensive to use. The minimum wage for H-2A is like $3 or $4 higher than our state. Minimum wage and our state minimum wage are $16. And the H-2A minimum wage is over 19. Think about that. The guest workers have to be paid more,” he adds

With required housing and food, Del Bosque says it’s becoming too expensive to even utilize H-2A in the U.S. today.

“Fruits and vegetables that we grow here are all handpicked. And if we can’t grow the produce here, then they’re going to have to be imported from somewhere else, maybe Mexico, maybe Chile” he says. “They’re going to have to be grown where there is labor. I don’t think Americans want that. I don’t think they want to have imported food, to be relying on other countries for their food supply.”

If you want your food grown in America, Del Bosque says you have to have the workforce to grow your food and harvest.
And he says that’s why all of agriculture, no matter where you live or what you grow, must be united.

“We’re a little minority as farmers,” Del Bosque adds. “We farmers don’t have an any political clout, neither here in California or anywhere else in the United States. We need to stick together.”

Your Next Reads:
Much work remains to solve ag labor issues

How one small farm expanded melon sales to major retailers

5 Things You Need To Know About The H-2 Programs

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:56:14 GMT

As labor shortages persist in the ag industry, many farms might be looking at using the H-2A and H-2B programs. Megan Wright, senior director of business expansion at másLabor, recently joined an Ag Retailers Association (ARA) webinar to explain the key aspects you need to understand to be successful.

1. Know the Specific Type of Labor You Need
While it might seem obvious farmers would need seasonal, agricultural labor, it’s important to think through exactly what tasks those employees will be completing. This determines if you need to hire H-2A or H-2B labor.

“The H-2A program is designed for all temporary or seasonal agricultural labor needs. On the flip side of that coin, we have the H-2B program — that’s also temporary and/or seasonal but for non-agricultural labor needs,” Wright explains. “Maybe some of the job duties that you have labor needs for take place on on the farm, but heavy tractor trailer drivers would be construction workers, or maybe you need to build a new farm building. What if you have manufacturing-style job duties?”

The H-2A program is uncapped because agriculture is considered a matter of national security, but the H-2B program does have a finite number of visas available each fiscal year.

2. Start the Process Early
Once you’ve decided whether you need H-2A or H-2B workers, the legal process can start. Wright recommends beginning these conversations 180 days before labor is needed for the H-2B program and 120 days for the H-2A program.

“There are an infinite number of H-2A visas, and the filing process itself is also just shorter,” she says. “The true nuts and bolts again of the process takes 75 days in a normal scenario, and I say normal because first-time program users can actually qualify for what’s called an emergency filing at no extra cost. That allows us to shrink that down and have workers arrive in as little as 45 days.”

3. Prepare for Housing and Transportation Requirements
The H-2A program does require employers to provide free housing.

“We always recommend to think of housing solutions as the the first thing you do when considering the H-2A program,” Wright says.

And though the H-2B program doesn’t require housing, it can still be an opportunity to ease the process.

“We still have folks coming into the country, potentially for the first time, who wouldn’t know the first place to look for housing. As an employer, if you wanted to take that extra step to provide a housing solution for the H-2B workers, you would then be allowed to deduct rent. So, we actually do find that a lot of our employers go ahead and do that knowing that they can recoup funds spent again through those payroll deductions.”

Travel expenses are another area some employers might be surprised by. That’s because it encompasses more than just the gas or plane fees.

“Both H-2A and H-2B employers are responsible for inbound and outbound travel, aka getting them from their front door to your front door and then back home again at the end of the contract period. I think what some folks tend to forget is that this isn’t just the literal transportation itself. It also includes a daily sustenance. It also includes potential motel stays,” Wright explains.

4. Be Willing to Hire Domestic Labor Also
If you want to hire international employees, you must be open to hiring domestic ones as well, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is in charge of the certifying process, and they’re clearly going to want to make sure that we’re not discriminating against U.S. workers by participating in these programs. You have to engage in positive U.S. recruitment,” Wright says. “As an employer, you need to be willing to hire a qualified, willing, available and able U.S. or domestic worker.”

The U.S. worker would need to have your minimum skill requirements and agree to the terms of the H-2 contract.

“If they come to you and they meet those requirements during this overall approval process, you absolutely have to interview them, and in that case, you would have to hire them on as well,” Wright says.

5. Stay Informed on President Donald Trump’s Immigration Reform Policies
Because H-2 workers have a lawful presence in the U.S., Trump’s deportation policies should not apply to them.

“It’s always important to note that Trump himself participates in both H-2 programs at Mar-a-Lago and at the Trump winery in Virginia,” Wright says. “But there might be misunderstandings, and there might be miscommunications. We might need to keep in mind that law enforcement may not be familiar with the H-2 programs overall.”

She recommends these best practices for avoiding any discrepancies with H-2 employees and law enforcement:

1. Your workers should have possession of copies of their legal documents, their passport, their visa, and are carrying those copies with them — especially if they leave the work site.
2. Make sure they have an emergency contact who can be reached at all times.
3. Create a document explaining the employee’s legal status in the U.S. and their rights (másLabor has these available).

From Early Executive Orders to Delaying Tariffs Against China, Here's What to Expect as Trump Takes Office

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 14:49:40 GMT

This week is mostly about President Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president, with a flurry of executive orders and illegal immigrant deportations expected soon.

President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance were sworn into office inside the Capitol Rotunda, avoiding the dangerously cold temperatures forecast for Washington, D.C. The entire ceremony, including prayers and speeches, will take place indoors, according to Trump’s announcement on Truth Social.

This marks the first indoor inauguration due to weather since Ronald Reagan’s second term in 1985, and the second such event in history, following James Monroe’s indoor inauguration due to a snowstorm.

Mexico’s Slim and Cervantes to Attend Inauguration; Sheinbaum Left Out

Billionaire Carlos Slim, Mexico’s wealthiest man with a net worth nearing $100 billion, will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States in Washington, D.C. He will be joined by Francisco Cervantes, president of Mexico’s influential Business Coordinating Council (CCE), who confirmed plans to begin talks with high-ranking U.S. officials during the event.

Notably absent from the invitation list is Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Mexico will be officially represented by Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma. The Trump administration’s policies, including a planned 25% tariff on Mexican exports and mass deportation operations, are expected to pose significant challenges to Mexico.

Slim expressed confidence that the Mexican economy would navigate these challenges effectively, emphasizing its complementary relationship with the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, Sheinbaum’s government has signaled readiness to implement reciprocal tariffs and address deportation logistics if needed.

World leaders, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, are also set to make history by attending a U.S. presidential inauguration.

Early Executive Orders: A Preview

Stephen Miller, Trump’s top domestic policy adviser, briefed Republican lawmakers Sunday on an ambitious slate of executive orders planned for the early days of the administration. These orders, many of which Trump had campaigned on, will focus on government reform, energy policy, and immigration. While details remain fluid, key areas discussed:

Government reform: Streamlining federal hiring and dismissal processes, targeting DEI initiatives, and reforming rules for Schedule F employees.
Energy policy: Halting climate-related spending, accelerating energy infrastructure projects, expanding drilling — including in the Arctic — and repealing electric vehicle mandates. Also: declare a national emergency related to energy.
Immigration: Declaring cartels as terrorist organizations, reinstating strict border policies like “Remain in Mexico,” declare an emergency at the U.S./Mexico border, which will allow Trump to deploy military forces to the border, and ending “catch and release.”

Miller cautioned that these orders are still under development, with specific details yet to be finalized. Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policies, is expected to play a significant role in shaping and implementing these executive orders. Miller’s involvement suggests a continuation of the hardline approach to immigration that characterized Trump’s first term.

Trump to Delay Tariffs on China, Signals Shift Toward Negotiation

President-elect Donald Trump is not expected to impose China-specific tariffs on his first day in office, signaling a strategic shift toward engagement with Beijing rather than reigniting a trade war.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the decision reflects Trump’s desire to begin his second term in a negotiating mode, with hopes of striking a new deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During his first term, Trump brokered a “Phase 1” trade deal with China, but many of Beijing’s commitments to purchase U.S. goods were not fully realized. While plans are underway for a memorandum directing federal agencies to review trade policies with China, Canada, and Mexico, the approach appears more measured than the aggressive tariff rhetoric from Trump’s campaign.

However, sources caution that Trump’s strategy could shift, given his history of abrupt decisions. His swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for midday Monday in Washington.

Trump to Declare National Energy Emergency to Boost Domestic Production

President-elect Donald Trump will declare a national energy emergency after his inauguration on Monday to lower energy costs, an incoming White House official announced.

The emergency declaration is expected to “unlock a variety of different authorities” to enhance natural resource production, though specific measures were not disclosed.

The official emphasized the importance of energy independence in the context of the U.S./China AI race, highlighting the need for domestic energy to power advanced technology. Additionally, Trump plans to sign an executive order to accelerate energy production in Alaska, citing its geostrategic significance and potential for LNG exports to the Asia-Pacific region.

Focus on Deregulation

President-elect Donald Trump plans to start one of the most sweeping deregulatory drives in U.S. history. Border czar Tom Homan says the incoming administration is assessing plans to launch post-inauguration immigration raids in Chicago after plans leaked in news reports about plans for a large-scale immigration raid in Chicago Tuesday.

Trump has outlined a sweeping array of 31 major policy initiatives for his second term, according to the Washington Post. These include moves on immigration, such as mass deportations, reinstating a travel ban, and ending birthright citizenship. He also plans significant economic shifts, like imposing high tariffs on imports, cutting taxes, and promoting cryptocurrency. The list, according to the WaPo:

1. Immigration

Mass Deportations: Pledges to implement the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, including undocumented workers.
‘Remain in Mexico’ Program: Plans to reinstate policies requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico.
Travel Ban: Intends to reimpose restrictions on travelers from several majority-Muslim countries.
Birthright Citizenship: Proposes ending automatic citizenship for children of noncitizens.
Punish Sanctuary Cities: Plans to cut federal funding to cities refusing to cooperate with deportations.
Death Penalty for Migrants: Advocates for automatic death sentences for migrants who kill U.S. citizens.
Border Wall: Plans to complete construction of the U.S./Mexico border wall.

2. Economy

Tariffs: Proposes imposing tariffs on all imports and higher rates on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada.
Inflation: Vows to lower prices, including energy and gas costs.
Tax Cuts: Promises extensive tax reductions, potentially adding to the national debt.
Eliminate Taxes on Tips and Overtime: Suggests removing taxes on certain income sources.
Cryptocurrency: Aims to make the U.S. a global leader in cryptocurrency by adopting industry-friendly policies.

3. Education

Abolish Education Department: Proposes dismantling the department, redirecting its responsibilities elsewhere.
Punish Schools Over Content: Plans to cut federal funding for schools promoting “critical race theory” or “radical gender ideology.”
Transgender Policies: Seeks to ban trans athletes from women’s sports and revoke inclusive school policies.
School Vouchers: Advocates for taxpayer-funded school-choice programs.

4. Environment

Rollback of Regulations: Plans to remove policies addressing climate change and protecting species.
Oil and Gas Expansion: Proposes increasing domestic production and exports of fossil fuels.
Paris Climate Agreement: Intends to withdraw the U.S. from this global pact.

5. Healthcare

Lower Costs: Pledges to reduce healthcare and prescription drug expenses.
Preserve Social Security and Medicare: Promises to maintain these programs while cutting waste.
Abortion Laws: Plans to leave decisions on abortion to state legislatures.
Free IVF: Proposes covering in vitro fertilization costs.

6. Democracy and Governance

Retaliation Against Rivals: Suggests acting against political enemies and media outlets.
Reshape Federal Workforce: Plans mass job cuts, reduce union power, and make civil servants “at-will” employees.
Voting Requirements: Proposes stricter voter ID and citizenship proof, ending mail-in and early voting.
Pardon Jan. 6 Defendants: Pledges to pardon individuals charged in the Capitol riot.

7. Defense and Foreign Policy

Isolationism: Advocates for “America First” policies, including shutting out imports and withdrawing from international conflicts.
End Wars in Ukraine and Middle East: Claims he would end these conflicts quickly, potentially conceding to adversaries.
Military Diversity Policies: Plans to reverse diversity initiatives and restrict women in combat roles.
Strike Mexican Cartels: Proposes military action against cartels operating in Mexico.

These policies reflect significant shifts across numerous domains and have raised concerns about their feasibility and broader implications.

It’s also key to note Trump will meet with House and Senate GOP leadership at the White House on Tuesday.

Vance, Han Discuss Trade and Fentanyl Ahead of Inauguration

Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Washington to discuss trade and the fentanyl crisis, a day before Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration.

The meeting follows a call on Friday between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which addressed similar topics, including TikTok. Han is expected to attend Monday’s inaugural ceremony, relocated indoors due to subfreezing temperatures in the capital. it will be the first time a high-ranking Chinese official attends a U.S. presidential inauguration. The Vance/Han meeting represents the most substantial individual engagement for Vance since securing his election victory alongside Trump last year.

Of note: Han also met billionaire Elon Musk and other U.S. business figures, underscoring Beijing’s efforts to set a positive tone in ties with the US before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office.

TikTok Returns After Brief U.S. Shutdown Amid Uncertainty

TikTok has reappeared in the United States following a temporary shutdown that began late Saturday night, Jan. 18. The app was blocked due to a federal law mandating that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest its U.S. operations. Service began to be restored on Sunday, January 19, driven by two key developments: (1) President-elect Donald Trump’s intervention: Trump announced plans to issue an executive order on his inauguration day, Jan.20, to delay the ban’s implementation.

He emphasized the need for negotiations to protect national security and suggested the possibility of a joint venture granting the U.S. a 50% ownership stake in TikTok’s operations. (2) TikTok’s agreement with service providers: TikTok confirmed service restoration through agreements with its service providers.

The company thanked President-elect Trump for providing “necessary clarity and assurance.” While the app is back online, its future remains uncertain, contingent on the Trump administration’s actions and potential negotiations with ByteDance.

Biden Issues Pre-emptive Pardons on Final Day in Office

Outgoing President Joe Biden issued pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 select committee. including GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), as well as police officers who testified before it.

The pardons also extended to Gen. Mark Milley, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In a statement, Biden emphasized that the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing.”

Your Next Read:

Treasury Nominee Bessent Defends Trump Policies in Testimony; Promises to Press China to Resume Ag Purchases in Phase 1 Agreement

What The Trump Administration's Mass Deportation Plans Could Mean for Agriculture

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:21:33 GMT

Farmers and food industry leaders are warning that President-elect Donad Trump’s plans to deport millions of immigrants could devastate agriculture — an industry in which immigrants make up a good chunk of the workforce.

Nearly half of all farmworkers are undocumented, and industries such as dairy and meatpacking plants are especially vulnerable to labor shortages.

“Admittedly, there are some people who slip through,” says Scott VanderWal, vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Perspective employers are required to take documentation that appears to be legal and valid. There are times when that’s not the case and then ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] comes in and cleans house, the workers disappear and go wherever they take them and the employers are left without help.”

While the H-2A visa program has grown, it only covers seasonal work and cannot replace year-round jobs at meat processing plants and on dairy and pork farms.

“Our packing plants need labor. Many of our farms use temporary visa labor — educated, skilled individuals work on our sow farms,” says Lori Stevemer, president of the National Pork Producers Council. “We have been experiencing an increased number of denials over the past year, which really makes it a challenge to find workers. The H-2A visa doesn’t work well when we have animals that need care 24/7, year-round.”

Experts say mass deportations would disrupt food production, raise prices and jeopardize the stability of U.S. agriculture.

Deportation falls under the Department of Homeland Security. President-elect Trump has selected South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to lead that agency.

“With Governor Noem at the helm, she’s going to bring common sense to that discussion and make sure we don’t close businesses, make sure we get everyone in line, get the workforce in line and then make sure we’re following our country’s rules,” says Hunter Roberts, secretary of South Dakota’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, farm groups continue to urge for reforms to immigration policies or a guest worker program to secure a stable workforce.

“At the same time as controlling the border, we need to overhaul our labor system,” VanderWal says. “We need to make H-2A apply to your own workers or come up with a decent program that will help.”

We need some type of H-2A visa reform to allow those workers to stay year-round, Stevemer adds.

Even then immigration is likely to continue to be a political hot potato in 2025, and labor shortages will continue to top the list of challenges for agriculture.

U.S. Ag, Food Industry Groups Express Significant Concerns About Trump's Proposed Mass Deportation Plans

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 20:58:39 GMT

U.S. ag and food industry groups are expressing significant concerns about Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation plans. These groups worry that such actions could have severe consequences for the U.S. food system and economy.

Key concerns

Labor shortage: The U.S. agricultural sector heavily relies on immigrant labor, with estimates suggesting that 50% to 70% of farmworkers are undocumented. Mass deportations would dramatically reduce the available workforce, potentially crippling agricultural production.
Economic disruption: Farmers and industry advocates argue that a crackdown on undocumented immigrants could bring their businesses to a halt. The American Farm Bureau Federation has stated that “Enforcement-only immigration reform would cripple agricultural production in America.”
Food supply disruption: There are concerns that mass deportations could “decimate our nation’s food supply and economy,” according to some politicians and advocates.
Rising food prices: A reduction in the agricultural workforce could lead to unharvested crops and decreased food production, potentially driving up food prices for consumers.
Broader economic impact: The loss of millions of workers would not only affect agriculture but could disrupt the nation’s economy.

Ag industry groups recognize the crucial role that immigrant workers play in the U.S. food system. They emphasize that these workers often take on physically demanding jobs that many American-born workers are unwilling to do. The Farm Bureau has noted the difficulty in finding American workers attracted to farm jobs, which are often challenging, seasonal, and transitory.

Small farmers and urban farmers also express concern, highlighting the importance of immigrant labor in maintaining the current food system. They worry that mass deportations would make it extremely difficult to find workers willing to perform the necessary labor under often difficult conditions.

Possible Outcomes

If mass deportations were to occur, industry groups foresee several potential outcomes:

• Reduced agricultural production and possible food shortages of some commodities
• Increased reliance on food imports, making the U.S. more vulnerable to price fluctuations and international trade policies
• Accelerated adoption of automation in agriculture, which comes with its own set of challenges and potential job losses
• Economic instability in rural communities that heavily depend on agricultural jobs

Minnesota Federal Reserve President Weighs In

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari voiced concern about the impact it wold have on inflation and the broad economy.

“If you just assume people are working - either working in farms or working in factories - and those businesses now lose employees, that would probably cause some disruption,” Kashkari said
while appearing on “Face the Nation” last weekend.

“The implications are not entirely clear to me,” Kashkari added. “Ultimately it is going to be between the business community and Congress and the executive branch to figure out how they would adjust.”

Judge Blocks Rule Allowing H-2A Workers to Unionize in 17 States

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 14:12:05 GMT

A ruling by a federal judge has blocked the enforcement of a U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) rule designed to protect H-2A farmworkers from retaliation related to union organizing in 17 states.

The decision was made by U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, who found the rule unconstitutional because it conflicted with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by granting collective bargaining rights to farmworkers, a right that Congress has not legislated for under the H-2A program.

The blocked rule was part of a broader effort by the DOL to enhance protections for farmworkers under the H-2A visa program. This program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. The rule aimed to prevent employers from retaliating against workers who engage in activities related to self-organization or other concerted activities concerning wages or working conditions.

Judge Wood’s ruling specifically restricts the enforcement of this rule in the states that were part of the lawsuit, which include Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The judge argued that the DOL overstepped its authority by creating rights not granted by Congress, effectively acting beyond its constitutional powers.

Bottom line:
The ruling affects agricultural employers’ compliance costs by potentially reducing the immediate financial and administrative burdens associated with the blocked provisions. While the ruling alleviates some immediate compliance burdens, agricultural employers must still navigate the complexities of the H-2A program.

Labor Problems Persist in the U.S. Agricultural Sector

Mon, 20 May 2024 19:56:51 GMT

According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, 437,310 farming operations used hired labor in that year, a nearly 15 percent decline from the number of farms using such workers in 2017. The number of farms using contract labor also declined between Census years, although by a lesser percentage, down about 1 percent from 195,754 to 193, 614. Interestingly, outlays in these two categories to pay these workers increased by 32 percent and 33 percent respectively, over the five-year period, despite the reduction in workers deployed.

Over recent decades, the share of the agricultural workforce that consists of hired workers has steadily risen, although the absolute numbers of both hired workers and family workers has fallen steadily. According to data collected in USDA’s Farm Labor Survey, hired workers accounted for about 23 percent of the roughly 10-million member agricultural workforce in 1950, while that group accounted for 35 percent of the 3-million member agricultural workforce in the year 2000. USDA stopped collecting data in this format as of 2001.

As of 2021, an estimated 47 percent of all U.S. agricultural workers were of Hispanic (including Mexican) origin, and 39 percent were not born in the United States (including Puerto Rico). However, by all reports the supply of migrant workers, both documented and undocumented, has declined in recent years for the agricultural sector. Overall, the Department of Homeland Security estimates that the population of undocumented persons in the United States fell by nearly 600,000 between 2018 and 2022. During that period, the under 18 years of age and over 55 years of age cohorts both increased, while the numbers of undocumented persons in their prime working years fell.

In 2019, 56% of California farmers reported being unable to find all the workers they had needed over the previous five years, according to a survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The labor shortfall for farming operations in many states worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the U.S. government invoked Section 265 of Title 42 beginning in March 2020, allowing border officials to suspend asylum proceedings and refuse entry to undocumented persons seeking to cross the border in order to safeguard public health in the United States. The enforcement of Title 42 ended in May 2023 as federal courts determined that the public health emergency no longer existed. Over 1.8 million expulsions occurred during that three-year period, but a substantial share of that figure were expulsions of the same people attempting to cross the border more than one time.

Under U.S. law, farmers can legally hire documented workers on a seasonal basis under the H2-A guest worker visa program. In recent years, use of this program has exploded. In 2022, 370,000 jobs were certified as eligible to be filled by H2-A workers, a nearly 400 percent increase over the total positions certified in 2010. These workers are employed predominantly on farms raising fresh fruits and vegetables, with 35 percent of the total hired under this program in 2022 found in three states that lead in the production of such crops, California, Florida, and Georgia.

Despite its increased use by farmers in recent years, both farm groups and groups advocating for farm workers remain highly critical of how the H2A program is structured. A particular concern for farm groups is its limitation for use only in filling seasonal positions makes it unusable by livestock and dairy producers, who need year-round employees. Farmworker advocates strongly criticize the requirement that such visas are issued to farming operations rather than to the workers themselves, which ties the workers to those locations and creates opportunities for wage theft and other abuses of workers.

There have been several efforts in recent decades to reform the H2-A program, most recently during the last two sessions of Congress, when the House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, the bipartisan legislation having been developed with input from farmers, agricultural stakeholders, labor organizations, and farmworker advocates. Key provisions of that bill include:
• Reforming the H-2A program to provide more flexibility for employers, while insuring critical protections for workers.
• Establishing a program for agricultural workers in the United States to choose to earn legal status through continued agricultural employment and contribution to the U.S. agricultural economy.
• Focusing on modifications to make the program more responsive and user-friendly for employers and provides access to the program for industries with year-round labor needs.
Unfortunately, the Senate did not consider the bill either time it passed in the 116th and 117th Congress. It was reintroduced in the House in June 2023.

In fact, Congress has failed to act on a number of immigration reform bills, both broad-based and narrowly tailored like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, for some time. The last time that a comprehensive immigration bill was enacted in this country was in 1986, during the second term of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Unfortunately, some individual states have taken steps which appear to have made the farm labor situation worse, not better. The state of Florida passed a law in 2022, S.B. 1718, which required all employers in the state with 25 or more workers to use the federal E-Verify system to vet their workers. The new law affected agricultural operations for the first time. That law took effect on July 1, 2023, and since that time, thousands of undocumented immigrants have reportedly left the state, affecting the labor force for both the agriculture and construction sectors. Research published in 2014 found that when certain immigration regulations are enforced vigorously at the county level, farms in those counties experience declines in the number of workers hired, the numbers of vegetable acres harvested, and overall farm income, compared to both non-enforcing and adjacent counties.

11 Key Takeaways From Biden's State Of The Union Address

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:58:42 GMT

President Joe Biden delivered a defiant argument for a second term in his State of the Union speech Thursday night. Biden fired multiple broadsides at Trump without ever mentioning him by name.

From the economy to Biden’s thoughts on infrastructure, the border and climate, there were several key takeaways from Biden’s State of the Union address. He led his address with Ukraine, Jan. 6, abortion and the state of the U.S. economy.

Ukraine. Biden accused “my predecessor” of “bowing down” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it is “outrageous, it is dangerous and it is unacceptable.” Biden called for funding Ukraine in its war against Russia. Biden warned that Russia’s aggression would “not stop at Ukraine.”
The U.S. will build a pier on the Gaza coast to receive humanitarian aid, including food. “Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” Biden said. “No U.S. boots will be on the ground. This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.” Biden added, “But Israel must also do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire. …Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.” The Biden administration has said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to allow the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Biden stressed the need for a temporary cease-fire and called for hostages to be released.
Shrinkflation. Called on Congress to pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) to stop “shrinkflation” in food packages. “Too many corporations raise their prices to pad their profits charging you more and more for less and less. That’s why we’re cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging or deceptive pricing from food to health care to housing,” Biden said. “In fact, snack companies think you won’t notice when they charge you just as much for the same size bag but with fewer chips in it,” he added.
High-speed affordable internet. Biden said his policies are “providing affordable high-speed internet for every American no matter where you live. Urban, suburban, and rural communities — in red states and blue states. Record investments in tribal communities.”
Farm sector. Biden said: “Because of my investments, family farms are better able to stay in the family and children and grandchildren won’t have to leave home to make a living. It’s transformative.” He added, “Because of my investments in the family farm led by my secretary of Agriculture who knows more about this than anybody I know, we’re better able to stay on those farms so their children and grandchildren won’t have to leave home, leave home to make a living. It’s transformative.”
Border. Biden said he “will not demonize immigrants saying they ‘poison the blood of our country’ as he said in his own words,” referencing his “predecessor” without naming Donald Trump. Biden continued, “Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office I introduced a comprehensive plan to fix our immigration system, secure the border, and provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and so much more… We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now!” Biden rebuked Republicans for opposing a bipartisan border agreement in the Senate. Trump has opposed the measure, calling it a “gift” to Democrats in an election year. Biden called on Republicans to work with him. “We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it,” he said. Biden has been weighing executive action on immigration, but has yet to make such a move.
Climate. Biden said, “We are also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it… I’m taking the most significant action on climate ever in the history of the world. I am cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030,” he said.
Infrastructure. Biden knocked Republicans for touting the flood of cash that has been funneled into their districts from bills that they opposed, such as the infrastructure law. “If any of you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know,” Biden said.
China. Biden said, “Our trade deficit with China is down to the lowest point in over a decade. We’re standing up against China’s unfair economic practices. We want competition with China, but not conflict.”
Manufacturing. “Where is it written that we can’t be the manufacturing capital of the world? We are. We will. Instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs - right here in America where they belong. And thanks to our CHIPS and Science Act, the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before. It takes time, but the American people are beginning to feel it.”
Taxes. Biden said he wants to raise the minimum tax for multinational corporations to 21%, as well as lift the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%. The president also hopes to:

Stop letting corporations get tax deductions for all employee salaries over $1 million (the current rule applies only to C-suite pay) and make it harder for companies to write off executives’ private jet travel.
Raise the tax on corporate stock buybacks from 1% to 4% to encourage companies to spend more of their revenue on salaries and improving productivity.
Make billionaires pay a minimum of 25% income tax.

Bottom line:

Biden’s SOTU address was clearly his effort to begin the national presidential re-election campaign. He directly referenced his age at times. “I’ve been told I’m too old,” he said as he concluded his speech. “Whether young or old, I’ve always known what endures… The issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are,” he said. “It’s how old are our ideas.”

Reaction:

As with most things related to our nation’s capital, responses primarily fell across political lines. Biden proponents and much of the media characterized the speech as “feisty.” The speech amounted to a general election preview, referring to former President Donald Trump 13 times only as “my predecessor.” Biden opponents thought his address was “angry” with no real message of bipartisanship. Trump responded to the speech in real time on his Truth Social site, defending himself and blasting Biden for what he said “may be the Angriest, Least Compassionate, and Worst State of the Union Speech ever made.”

Exclusive Q&A With Presidential Hopeful Ron DeSantis

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 20:03:50 GMT

Ron DeSantis, candidate for 2024 Republican presidential nomination and current Florida governor, joined AgriTalk to share his plans for the agriculture industry if successful in his run for president.

AgriTalk has extended an invitation to all presidential candidates to join Chip Flory and answer the same set of questions.

Q: What’s your motivation to be President? Why do you want the job?

A: We’re in jeopardy of being the first generation of Americans to leave our kids and grandkids in an America that is less prosperous and less free than the one we inherited. As a father of a first grader, kindergartener and preschooler, that is not acceptable to me. I am not going to sit idly by and watch the managed decline of this country. We are going to reverse the country’s decline, we are going to usher in a new birth of freedom and we are going to create a revival of the American spirit. I’m running for president to get the job done.

Q: What’s the No. 1 issue or challenge for America? How and when will you address it as President?

A: I think it’s multifactor. I think it’s the economic struggles, the lack of sovereignty at our southern border and then the poor energy policy. So, we’ll do all that on day one. We’re going to take “Bidenomics” – the rules, regulations, executive orders – we’re going to reverse that. We need to get inflation prices and interest rates down. There’s more to do than just the “Bidenomics,” but we are going to do the “Bidenomics” and get rid of that.

We also need to declare a national emergency for our southern border on day one. I’m going to end this invasion. I’m going to build a border wall and I’m going to hold the Mexican drug cartels accountable for poisoning our people and killing them by the tens of thousands.

Then we’re going to reverse Biden’s disastrous Green New Deal energy policy. We’re not going to force people to buy electric vehicles. We are going to open up our domestic energy for production. We need low price and reliable energy in this country. It’s good for individuals, it’s good for businesses and it’s good for national security.

Q: Let’s talk rural America and ag, farming, ranching, etc. What issues will you address as President?
A: We’re going get the federal bureaucracy off the back of the agriculture industry, particularly our family farmers and ranchers. EPA is not going to be able to go on your property because you have a puddle and say it’s Waters of the United States. We’re going to rein in the EPA, we’re going to rein in the USDA. Farmers know how to take care of their land better than government bureaucrats.

We’re also going to reverse Biden’s electric vehicle mandate so we can support liquid fuels. We’re going to do year-round E15 and also allow for higher blends to be sold as people want to do it. I think there’s a market for it.

We are going to go against states like California who are doing things like Proposition 12, which is impacting how people are producing pork in Iowa. California should not be telling Iowa pork producers how to do their job. We’re going to provide relief there.

We want to eliminate the death tax, particularly for family farms. We shouldn’t have to sell the farm just to be able to pass it down to the next generation. It’s very important we do that.

Then we’re going to work to make sure what our farmers are producing can be sold all over the world. We want to increase access to markets in other parts of the world.

Q: When you say “rein in USDA,” are you talking specifically about some of the climate-smart farming programs at USDA?

A: We’re going to absolutely kneecap all of the climate-related impositions on agriculture, and I think it’s more than just USDA. This whole ESG movement – they’re trying to do it through the Securities and Exchange, all these other things. Ultimately, the movement behind this views agriculture as a big problem to what they’re trying to accomplish, so they target agriculture as being a source of all these problems. If those policies go into effect, it will create a food crisis in this country. It is not going to work. It’s very dangerous. I’m going to provide relief for that not just in USDA, but across the board. ESG will be dead on arrival in my administration.

Q: The Iowa Corn Growers and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, and others, say you are the only candidate who checks all the boxes with your support for biofuels. Describe your energy and renewable energy policy plans.

A: We want American energy and yes, that means opening up federal lands. That means doing things like Keystone and Marcellus Shale, but it also means producing biofuels here in the Midwest, here in the United States. [It’s an] important part of the economy and helps with affordability, so we’re going to be a supporter of that. Yes, we’ve checked all the boxes across the board because we understand how important it is.

As these issues come up with agriculture and biofuels, I have so many great people I’m friends with here in Iowa who will provide great counsel. From Gov. Reynolds, the members of your legislature, to so many great members of your farming community. I’m excited to be able to work with the folks here in Iowa as we advance good policy for them over many years in the future.

Q: One of the policies from the Trump administration made rather liberal use of the small refinery exemptions. Where would that stand in a DeSantis administration?

A: That would be a case-by-case thing. I know Trump had done some of that stuff. I don’t know really what all went into it. But obviously we understand there are stakeholders here in Iowa on that and we want to make sure we make everybody happy.

Q: How will businesses (small and large) view your fiscal policies?
A: It would be a big improvement over what we’re seeing now. You can just look at my record in Florida. We’ve cut taxes every single year, we’ve run big budget surpluses and I’ve actually paid off 25% of our state’s total debt that we’ve accumulated since the inception of Florida as a state in the 19th century. Imagine if you could do that in Washington. We’re the No. 1-rated economy in all 50 states. We’re No. 1 for new business formation, No. 1 for entrepreneurship, No. 1 for talent development and No. 1 for education. We’re going to downsize the federal bureaucracy.

In the state of Florida, we have one of the lowest, if not the lowest, state employees per capita, anywhere in the country. Our budget, even though we have millions of more people than New York state, is half the size of New York state. Yet, when people move from New York to Florida, they tell me our services are better, our roads are better and our schools are better. So, we’re doing all this at half the cost and in a much smaller government.

The bureaucracy that small businesses have had to contend with is way out of bounds. It’s way excessive. We’re going to be taking that off the backs of our small- and medium-sized businesses. The big corporations tend to do fine with big government because of all the rules and regulations and red tape that give them a competitive advantage over smaller companies. The people who get killed by the federal bureaucracy are the small family-owned businesses. Those are going to be the businesses I want to see succeed in this country. Washington’s no longer going to be a roadblock for their success.

Q: On trade policy, former President Trump says he’s going to invoke at least a 10% tariff on all imports into the U.S. Is that something you would consider?

A: No. First of all, that would raise prices for Americans. It would hurt the inflation we’re seeing, and then it would lead to retaliation from other countries. That would end up hurting farmers because they would cut off access to some of our agricultural products. I will be willing to use, strategically, trade policy to make sure we could restore key elements of our economy visa vie China. I think that’s important, and I think Trump talked about that. I don’t think they had great success at it. But if he does a global tariff, Americans will pay more for things, and there will be reverberations in the agriculture community.

Q: Final question. Yes or no: Should former President Trump be on the primary ballot in Colorado?
A: Yes, he should. That was a mistake the Supreme Court there made.

Will Border Security Issues Force Congress To Take Action On Immigration Reform? Ag Economists Say It's Unlikely

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 14:45:25 GMT

The debate over immigration and border policies continues to be a point of contention in Washington. With a renewed push by the GOP to address illegal border crossings, and the White House emphasizing the need to allocate more than $13 billion to manage the increase of migrants into the U.S., the topic as at the forefront of policy discussion once again. However, ag economists are still skeptical immigration reform will finally see movement in Washington.

In the October Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor, a survey of nearly 70 ag economists from across the U.S., economists were asked if they expected to see any movement on immigration reform in 2024. Nearly 83% of respondents said no. Just over 8% said yes, with the remaining economists, or just over 8%, unsure about the outcome in 2024.

Of the overwhelming number of economists who said they don’t think Congress will move on immigration reform in 2024, the reasons included:

Election year in 2024 will stall potential legislation, although it might be a focus during campaigns.
Political gridlock and competing priorities make a bipartisan solution unlikely, especially with a sensitive issue like immigration reform.

The biggest hurdle, according to respondents, is the fact it’s an election year, as well as how controversial the issue is. One economist even called it “politically unpopular.”

“Congress has a vested interest in keeping this issue unresolved in the current partisan environment,” responded an economist in the latest survey.

Another economist said, “Getting anything started and passed in an election year will be tough, let alone something as confrontational as immigration.”

A different economist in the October survey said immigration reform won’t happen because, “Too many other issues to happen first. Congress and the administration are too far apart to find an acceptable resolution. Legislators don’t have the fortitude to address it.”

However, one economist who thinks Congress may address immigration reform in 2024 said their response is due to the fact that “Right to Shelter will be rescinded in certain major cities that have reached the breaking point.”

It’s evident immigration reform is a major issue for agriculture. One economist said, “Immigration reform is a huge issue for the U.S. economy and MUST be addressed. However, it is so politically sensitive that very few Senators or Congressmen are willing to push the issue.”

Ag Labor Void

The survey also asked economists if they thought U.S. agriculture will be able to utilize the influx of immigrants at the southern border to fill the void in ag labor. While the feedback was mixed, most were not confident due to mismatched skills and what they called ‘noise’ in the system. Other economists indicated that some of that labor could possibly be used, particularly for specialty crops like fruits and vegetables.

“The ‘immigration problem’ at the Mexican border is a humanitarian problem, as well as an immigration issue,” said one economist. “Many of the new immigrants entering at the Mexican border are being moved to the East or West Coast. It will be hard for ag to access this potential workforce.”

What Will It Take for Congress to Take Action on Immigration Reform?

As the issue continues to draw criticism and debate, economists were asked: what’s the one thing that would need to happen in order for Congress to take action on immigration reform in the next couple of years? While sentiments were largely pessimistic on any action, some economists think increased pressure from labor markets could prompt Congress to take action.

One economist said “cooler minds” is what it would take for Congress to find compromise.

“A perceived crisis where both parties can agree on a solution. In other words, a very unlikely situation,” said another economist.

Another economist said, “Elect smart people.” While one economist in the anonymous survey said, “One part would need to gain total control.”

Another economist thinks the only way to find a solution is to, “Separate ag labor from broader immigration discussion.”

A Bipartisan Issue?

According to Farm Journal Washington correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer, Republicans are currently pushing for changes in immigration policies aimed at deterring illegal border crossings. He says they want to address border security issues and make it more difficult for migrants to enter the U.S. without proper documentation.

At the same time, Wiesemeyer reports Democrats, including President Joe Biden, emphasize the need to allocate $13.6 billion to manage the increasing number of migrant arrivals. They argue that this funding is essential to address the current challenges at the border.

“The debate over immigration is causing tensions in Congress, particularly as it relates to funding for Ukraine and other foreign aid initiatives. There is a risk that disagreements over immigration policies could lead to delays or the derailment of government spending and aid packages,” reports Wiesemeyer.

He also points out that Democrats are facing pressure to compromise on immigration, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pledging to link a substantial border package to aid for Ukraine. He says Senate Republicans are also seeking to incorporate policy changes in an emergency funding discussion with some Republicans advocating for bipartisan efforts to address border security.

“They are proposing changes to asylum policies, including raising the bar for ‘credible fear’ claims and reinstating the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy for asylum-seekers,” says Wiesemeyer.

He also reports key Democrats are opposed to Republican demands on immigration policy changes, as they doubt the possibility of reaching a workable middle ground during time-sensitive funding negotiations. But some Democratic lawmakers, such as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), express a willingness to address border security issues but reject “draconian” policy ideas that could harm migrants. They seek more humane solutions.

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) urged colleagues to focus on measures that already have bipartisan support, such as increasing the number of border patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers, which align with President Biden’s request. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) indicated a willingness to consider any bipartisan border proposal put forward by the Senate.

Hispanic Farmers and Producers Help Keep Food on America’s Tables

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:17:41 GMT

By Jesse Larios

Those of us who work in agriculture talk a lot about our roots. That’s because our land, our families, our heritage and our livelihoods are often tied up together. Across America, farming tends to be a multigenerational business, with families working together to make a living from the land, often against the powerful forces of weather, markets and time.

This month is Hispanic Heritage Month, and it got me thinking about my family’s roots and the contributions that my Latino and Latina brothers and sisters have made to agriculture in the U.S. From the vaquero days of the 1800s, when Hispanic ranchers and horsemen helped build up the American West, to the new generation of tech-savvy producers working at agriculture’s cutting edge today, Hispanic farmers, workers and producers have always been integral to keeping food on America’s tables.

There are over 112,000 Hispanic farmers and producers in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent Census of Agriculture – making us the largest group of minority farmers in America. The Hispanic community also plays an outsized role throughout the food and agriculture value chain, as about 80% of farm laborers, 44% of meatpacking workers and a quarter of restaurant and food service employees are Hispanic.

In many cases, Hispanic workers have been vital to keeping our food system running during our country’s darkest hours. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Latino and Latina essential workers were on the front lines in fields and factories, risking illness or worse so that all Americans could stay fed. Looking further back, when many working-age men went off to fight in World War II, workers from Mexico helped ease U.S. labor shortages in agriculture, harvesting crops that the entire country depended on. Many workers, including my own father, came to this country through the Bracero Program , which lasted from World War II through the 1960s and enabled millions of families like mine to enter this country legally and chase the American dream.

America is a country built by immigrants, with each generation adding to the foundations of the ones who came before. My father and uncles, who initially started as laborers in the orchards of Arizona, later joined the cattle feedlot industry in California’s Imperial Valley. My father ended up working at the same feed yard for 43 years, and later, after attending college and gaining some work experience, I had the opportunity to come home and manage that same operation where my family had grown up. I have been blessed to be able to feed cattle throughout the West, something I could have only dreamed about as a child. My parents were proud that all of their children and grandchildren received a college education, something that my daughters are now taking even further by pursuing advanced degrees in psychology and medicine.

Today, a new generation of Hispanic farmers is rising up in agriculture, and I am excited to see what the future holds. Many have made the leap from farmworker to farm owner, and this new generation is often focused on giving back, whether by implementing new sustainable farming practices, fighting to be seen as equal for the fruits of our labor or promoting food security in their communities.

Although some people may still think of us as newcomers, the Hispanic community has deep roots in America and in American agriculture. I am proud of this heritage – this month and every month – eternally grateful for my forebears’ contributions and inspired by what’s to come.

Jesse Larios is a Farmer Ambassador with Farm Journal Foundation , where he works to educate policymakers and consumers about agriculture’s contribution to global food security. He is a cattle farmer from Holtville, Calif.

Four Ag Topics Discussed in Mexico City During USMCA Meetings

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:40:59 GMT

Mexico City ran the headlines this week, as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador hosted President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit.

In their Tuesday meeting, the three leaders shared a conversation including these top takeaways for the ag industry:

1. Semiconductor manufacturing

The three agreed to organize a semiconductor forum with industry representatives and government officials in early 2023 to coordinate semiconductor supply chain needs and investments. Semiconductor companies building new manufacturing facilities in the U.S. would like to put parts of their supply chain in Mexico.

Read more: What to Watch in 2023

2. Methane and food waste reduction

The countries also committed to reducing methane emissions from the solid waste and wastewater sector by at least 15% by 2030 compared with 2020 levels, and to develop a proposal to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030.

3. Energy

Biden, López and Trudeau agreed to create a plan for standards and installation of electric vehicle chargers along their international borders.

The energy topic comes as Mexican officials are in consultations with the U.S. to avoid a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) dispute panel over Mexican energy policy. Canada has also joined in the complaint.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office says the policy puts billions of dollars in U.S. investments at risk.

Canada also has concerns over the implementation of an electric-vehicle provision in the Inflation Reduction Act signed by Biden last year.

While Trudeau did not elaborate on his concerns, Biden said Trudeau has “always been there” when he reached out. With that, Biden intends to travel to Canada to discuss the matter in March.

Read more: Title 42 Talks Continue with Biden at U.S./Mexico Border

4. U.S./Mexico Border Wall

Biden, in the meeting, was met with thanks from López Obrador for not building “even one meter of wall.”

“You are the first president of the United States in a very long time who has not built even one meter of wall. We thank you for that, sir,” said López Obrador.

The comments come as the Biden administration announced a program to allow 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, collectively, to enter the U.S. legally each month.

Still, López Obrador suggested Biden “insist” Congress regularize undocumented Mexican migrants who work in industries where American employers are struggling mightily to find enough workers.

By the end of the discussion, López Obrador labeled Biden as “a man with conviction.” López Obrador then moved to challenge Biden to improve life across the region, telling him he “holds the key” to change.

“This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean,” López Obrador said.

While López Obrador and Biden reserved a moment for a border wall discussion, no commentary was shared regarding GMO corn trade .

Read more: Mexico’s GMO Corn Debate Tabled Until 2025, According to Mexico

Title 42 Talks Continue with Biden at U.S./Mexico Border

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 14:30:32 GMT

President Biden traveled on Sunday to the U.S./Mexico border amid a surge in illegal border crossings. The president went to El Paso, Texas, which in December saw a surge of migration. His first stop was at the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry, where the president toured the facility with border officials. He then stopped along the border fence that separates El Paso from Juárez, Mexico where he visited the El Paso County Migrant Services Support Center.

“They need a lot of resources. We’re going to get it for them,” Biden told reporters.

To the dismay of some Democrats and immigration advocates, his plans rely on the resumption or expansion of several Trump-era policies that Biden has previously decried, including Title 42, the pandemic-era border measure that allows migrants seeking asylum to be quickly turned away. Biden was greeted at the airport by Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the president’s policies to reporters on Air Force One Sunday, saying the goal is to “incentivize a safe and orderly way and cut out the smuggling organizations.” He said Biden was traveling to the border because “he made a decision to see what the challenges are and to see how we responded to those challenges down in El Paso.”

The administration said last week it would use Title 42 to rapidly expel asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the countries whose migrants have posed the greatest challenge to the U.S. in the past year. It is taking the step even as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments on the legality of Title 42 and the administration has argued that the measure is no longer justified on public-health grounds and must end.

The administration announced a new program for up to 30,000 migrants a month combined from the four countries to enter the U.S. legally. In the coming weeks, the administration plans to adopt an updated version of a different Trump-era policy known as the transit ban, which would make migrants at the border ineligible for asylum if they didn’t first seek protection in another country, such as Mexico, on their way to the U.S.

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Would More Legal Immigration Help the White House Fight Inflation? Mexico's President is Now Pushing For It

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 20:42:26 GMT

President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will hold a bilateral meeting Tuesday as both administrations face a surge in migration. They are expected to announce multiyear, joint projects to modernize border infrastructure, senior administration officials said. They will also direct their teams to create a task force to combat criminal organizations and curb the flow of fentanyl, the U.S. officials said, as well as a working group focused on labor, migration pathways and worker protections.

How about this to fight inflation: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will use his White House visit this week to urge President Biden to allow more legal immigration, which he says would help curb inflation. Last month, Mexican Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, said that 300,000 new temporary work visas would be announced at today’s summit, although the U.S. side has made no mention of it. Meanwhile, arrests at the U.S./Mexico border are continuing to increase and reached record highs in May when the U.S. Border Patrol reported 220,000 apprehensions. That figure included 77,000 Mexicans and was driven upward by a high number of repeat attempts (nearly 25% of the total) making it the highest monthly total since March 2000. Also, 26 of the 53 migrants who recently died after being abandoned by smugglers in a semitrailer in Texas were Mexican.

U.S. officials want López Obrador to retreat on his reliance on fossil fuels and his campaign to favor Mexico’s state-owned electricity utility at the expense of foreign-built plants powered by gas and renewable energy. Washington has filed several complaints under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement pushing Mexico to enforce environmental laws and rules guaranteeing trade union rights.

López Obrador said he planned to speak to Biden about controlling inflation, immigration and security. He said a group of business leaders, including Carlos Slim, Mexico’s wealthiest citizen, would accompany him.

Zippy Duvall: Labor is Biggest Limiting Factor for American Agriculture

Wed, 11 May 2022 21:21:24 GMT

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), weighed in on a number of President Joe Biden’s proposed policy shifts which were announced earlier today by the White House.

“We understand there’s going to be a need for more food because of what’s going on around the world, and we very much appreciate the administration looking for ways to help us increase production,” Duvall said during a conversation on AgriTalk with Host Chip Flory on Tuesday.

Biden’s three-part plan would include:

1. Doubling the funding for domestic fertilizer production to $500 million;
2. Providing greater access to farm management tools for plant and soil needs;
3. Increasing the number of counties eligible for double cropping insurance by up to 681 additional counties. That would bring the total number of counties where double-cropping qualifies for crop insurance to 1,935.

While Duvall thanked the Biden administration for trying to address would-be food shortages, he questions whether more double-crop acres is even a viable option for farmers. Concerns he cites include the later than average 2022 planting season and whether adequate soybean seed and other inputs would be available in those additional counties.

“You’ve got to look at the cost of production, whether we will be able to get enough money out of that second crop to meet the cost of producing it,” he says.

Observations On Immigration Reform And Work Permits
What could potentially put more money in farmers’ pockets is the ability to employ more labor.

Specifically, Duvall would like to see legislation to modernize the current guest worker program which would allow year-round, documented workers who could supply U.S. agriculture with manpower.

“Labor is the biggest limiting factor that American agriculture has,” he contends. “If (the U.S. government) wants us to be more productive, give us the workers to be productive with.”

Duvall told Flory he isn’t sure Congress has what it takes to do immigration reform.

“It surely doesn’t look like it, but we need to make sure that we secure that border,” he says.

He adds that the situation along the border between the U.S. and Mexico is concerning for the communities and residents located there.

“I’ve been to the border, and it is a mess,” he says. “Our farmers and ranchers have suffered terribly down there and think the federal government has abandoned them. They’re even fearful for their lives in a lot of cases.”

AFBF Criticizes Securities and Exchange Commission Proposal
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a proposal in early April called the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate Related Disclosures for Investors, which the AFBF opposes.

The proposal would require public companies to report on Scope 3 emissions, which are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by a publicly traded company but contribute to its value chain. The AFBF says it has deep concerns the SEC is proposing a rule that would end up subjecting farmers to regulations that are intended for Wall Street.

“The SEC’s trying to get those companies traded on the stock exchange to follow their carbon footprint all the way back to the farm, and we don’t think they have the authority to do that,” Duvall says.

“We don’t need to add any more cost of regulation to our farmers,” he adds. “We’re already over-regulated. We just think this is a bad move, and it’s another area where the federal government is overreaching.”

The SEC has granted an extension until June for the comment period on the 510-page proposal. An analysis of the proposed SEC rule is available here .

Support For Climate-Smart Commodities Program
AFBF sent letters of support to five organizations that have submitted proposals for the USDA Climate-Smart Commodities program.

USDA is investing $1 billion in approximately 350 pilot projects to create market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forestry products that use climate-smart practices and include innovative, cost-effective ways to measure and verify greenhouse gas benefits.

Duvall says an AFBF review committee placed a high priority on the projects that reflect objectives laid out by it and state Farm Bureaus during USDA’s request for information process.

Controversy Continues Over Waters Of The U.S. (WOTUS)
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a Step 1 WOTUS rulemaking that would repeal the Navigable Waters Protection Rule and replace it with an updated version of what the AFBF calls “murky pre-2015 regulations.”

An AFBF press release says that once the Step 1 rule is complete, the agencies plan to work on a new rule that broadens the WOTUS definition even further.

The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are in the process of holding regional “listening sessions” to gather feedback from stakeholders on the forthcoming Step 2 rule.

Duvall says he is concerned the stakeholders included in the listening sessions are not diverse enough as a group and do not adequately reflect farmers’ needs and concerns.

“We think (EPA and the Army Corp) limited the people and their experience with the WOTUS rule and they need a wider variety of people involved so they can make wise decisions as they move forward in rewriting this rule,” he says.

“We continue to ask our membership to communicate with EPA, to tell their concerns and their stories from their individual farms, and we’re going to continue that movement,” he adds.

Listen here for Duvall’s entire comments on AgriTalk: