With Trump back in office, some folks in agriculture are asking, “Who will do the crop work?”
Zoom out: President Trump has pledged to deport millions of immigrants. Immigrants account for nearly 67% of the nation’s crop farmworkers. Anywhere from roughly 40% to 44% of those aren’t authorized to work here. In addition to fieldwork, meatpacking, dairies, poultry, and livestock farms also rely on immigrants to get work done.
ICYMI: Farms have relied on undocumented labor for so long that there really isn’t any other part of the workforce that could replace them. Meanwhile, Trump’s pick for ag secretary, Brooke Rollins, says any issues coming from a lost labor force would be “hypothetical.” Rollins said she and administration officials would “hopefully solve some of these problems.”
Soundbite: “To try to produce the food we all eat is almost impossible without migrant workers.” — Steve Bowlin, Bowlin Farms in Kansas
Bowlin said they use the H-2A program to bring visaed farmworkers because the U.S. doesn’t have the workforce to get the job done.
Many migrant workers have been here for decades. A grower in Florida said some of their most skilled laborers speak English and have been in the states 20-30 years. Plenty of these folks have paid taxes and social security, but never became citizens.
As labor becomes harder to find and with immigration issues, fruit and vegetable imports have soared in recent years. In 2022, 55% of fruits were imported compared to 37% in 2000. More than half came from Mexico.
Don’t forget the tariffs: With Trump’s threats of tariffs for Canada, China, and Mexico, produce prices will continue to go up.
Summing things up: “Either you have to import your labor or you import your products.” — expert at a trade association