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Minnesota Farms Face Labor Crisis Amidst Immigration Crackdown
17 Feb
Summary
- Dairy farmer fears worker shortages due to immigration enforcement.
- H-2A visa worker numbers fell over 10% in early 2025.
- Farmers rely heavily on immigrant labor for essential farm tasks.
Farmers in Minnesota are expressing serious concerns over a growing labor shortage, directly linked to stepped-up immigration enforcement. This situation threatens the operational capacity of numerous farms across the state, particularly in the dairy and beef sectors.
Larry Dreier, a long-time dairy farmer, emphasized that immigrant workers are indispensable for his operations, which include hundreds of dairy cows and stock steers. He noted that heightened scrutiny from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making it increasingly difficult to secure necessary labor, a sentiment echoed by many farm owners.
Data from the University of Minnesota Extension indicates a substantial decrease in workers utilizing H-2A visas during the first half of 2025. This decline, exceeding 10%, directly impacts farms that have relied on these temporary foreign workers for decades to manage demanding workloads.
The implications extend beyond dairy operations. Crop farmers in Minnesota are also voicing apprehension that further immigration enforcement could trigger a broader farm labor crisis, jeopardizing agricultural output.
