Rumors of ICE sightings and immigration raids have caused fear among agricultural laborers, which has negatively affected farm labor in Wisconsin, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union Darin Von Ruden said. This may lead to increased labor shortages and higher prices for consumers.
There have been multiple instances of ICE raids in Wisconsin. For example, a joint federal operation resulted in the arrests of 24 immigrants without legal status in Manitowoc County Sept. 30, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. ICE arrested these individuals for suspected ties to drug trafficking, according to a press release by the Department of Homeland Security.
These raids have increased anxiety among laborers to the point that Von Ruden said that they are not willing to go to their gathering points to commute to work together over fear of arrests.
“It certainly has put the labor force on eggshells because they’re really nervous about going to work,” Von Ruden said.
Because of these circulating fears of ICE attacks, the decreasing labor force disproportionately affects the work done at these farms and can have some direct consequences, Von Ruden said.
One of these consequences is the potential higher cost of goods like fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products, according to the American Immigration Council. As labor becomes more scarce, farmers will face higher costs for wages and labor costs, Von Ruden said. Farmers will then have to offset those costs to consumers to make a significant profit.
This poses a problem of supply and demand, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin Andrew Stevens said.
“As the overall supply decreases, the demand of the goods does not change, resulting in overall higher prices in the grocery store for American consumers,” Stevens said.
Another consequence of immigration raids and labor shortages is rising mental health issues among farmers and workers, Von Ruden said. The uncertainty of what might happen during the workday, combined with the economic pressures of farming, creates many stressors for Wisconsin farmers, Stevens said. But, this issue has been plaguing farmers for decades, Von Ruden said.
“A lot of farmers still remember the crisis of farm prices of the 80s and have that in the back of their minds,” Von Ruden said.
During the 1980s, midwestern farmers were faced with a multitude of problems of extremely high interest rates, which lead farmers towards bankruptcy as the new interest rates affected the price of the loans that were taken out for farmland. Issues like the U.S. embargo on Soviet Union grains and increasing land values also plagued American farmers, according to the Iowa Station for Public Broadcasting.
The difficulties of the 1980s serve as historical context, a reminder for farmers that shifts in economic policy and foreign affairs can have lasting impacts. Though these issues may not factor as much into farmers’ lives today as they previously did, there are still many different issues that arise with varying degrees of magnitude, Von Ruden said.
In today’s climate, immigration raids may seem like a prominent issue that is negatively affecting Wisconsin farmers, but Von Ruden said there is a more economic impact to what farmers are facing today. The war on tariffs brought about by the current presidential administration is also causing significant issues with the nation’s foreign agricultural markets. Currently, China has placed a 34% tariff on exported soybeans due to the initial retaliatory tariffs that President Trump’s administration has placed, according to the American Soybean Association.
“China has historically imported a lot of soybeans because they don’t produce nearly enough as much as they consume,” Stevens said. “This new tariff makes soybeans comparatively more expensive for companies in China to buy soybeans from the U.S., and now these companies are turning towards cheaper soybean producers like Brazil.”
According to ASA, China has accounted for an average of 60% of U.S. soybean exports for the last seven years, and this was one of the few ways for Wisconsin soybean farmers to make a profit with such a limited market within the U.S. With low profit margins, farmers bear the brunt of the economic pressures of maintaining their farms and covering all the associated costs, Von Ruden said.
Von Ruden said the consequences of losing agricultural labor due to the ICE raids and new retaliatory tariffs are negatively affecting not only Wisconsin farmers but farmers across the country. He said even with these undeniable challenges, farmers will continue to struggle if the current presidential administration remains on their current path.
These issues are creating a lose-lose situation for farmers — farmers want stability and predictability in both labor and trade policies, Von Ruden said. But, he said this issue is only being fueled by the actions of our elected officials and lies solely in the hands of a few people.
“I think my policy recommendation is stability, predictability, transparency,” Von Ruden said. “That’s what I hear the industry clamoring for.”
Farmers don’t want overly complicated solutions to their problems, they want to not have to worry about labor, trade and economic policies on top of agricultural yields, Von Ruden said. Farmers are one of the most underrepresented communities in the U.S. yet face most of the impacts of the decisions of our government, according to the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Von Ruden said.
As Wisconsin farmers navigate changing trade policies and obstacles in the labor force, their future depends on finding security in an unpredictable field, Von Ruden said.
