USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says farm labor costs have reached in some cases more than 50 percent of expenses but still defends the president’s mass deportation policy.
Rollins makes no excuse for backing the president on reversing mass migration to the U.S.
“The entire industry is talking about President Trump’s promise, which I fully support, of securing the border and mass deportation.”
But Rollins is caught between that support and her role advocating for the nation’s farmers.
“I realize a lot of our Ag community is concerned about labor and what President Trump’s vision and execution of that vision very quickly will mean. My message is that listen, he understands the challenges to our community. No one has the backs of our farmers and ranchers more than he does. We will take this one day at a time.”
She promised that farmers’ voices will be heard in the administration, including on broadening the H2A migrant labor Program.
“I know that the H2A is very helpful and important to many of our producers, but to many like the dairy industry, you can’t milk a cow six months a year. I’ve already been speaking with Lori Chavez-Deremer, who will be our new labor secretary if promoted very soon, and working with Congress on that, too.”
USDA forecasts labor, seed, taxes, and rent will continue to rise this year, including labor by 3.6 percent, while feed, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel, and interest costs decline.
-NAFB