It’s no secret that agriculture is one of Idaho’s biggest economic drivers, as it’s worth billions of dollars. However, the industry could be impacted, as President-Elect Donald Trump floats around a plan for mass deportations.
The dairy industry in Idaho is worth $14 billion, it’s the largest agriculture commodity in Idaho and is the third largest in the nation.
Rick Naerebout, the Chief Executive Officer for the Idaho Dairymen’s Association said like most agriculture industries, they rely on immigrant labor, which accounts for 90% of their workforce.
“We typically have about 5,000 jobs on the farm or at the farm level in the dairy industry. About 5,000 jobs in the processing industry, and about 26,000 jobs in the state that are supported industries like mine and others that support the dairy industry,” Naerebout said.
Naerebout added the Department of Labor does a survey of agriculture workers, and estimates that 40% of those agriculture workers do not have legal status. If a proposed mass deportation plan goes forward, it would severely impact the dairy industry.
While there is a significant amount of automation in the dairy industry, such as automated milking machines, Naerebout says a human element is still needed when working with dairy cows.
“There, you know, bedding cattle and working with cattle in the corals to make sure they’ve got, you know, a good place to lay down and be comfortable in these cooler months,” Naerebout said.
Workers also check cattle to make sure they are healthy and do a head count to make sure all cows have been milked.
Naerebout said that if congress expanded the H-2A visas, which allow temporary visa’s for seasonal workers in agriculture, to include dairy farmers, it would help their industry. However, it’s been a challenge to get that passed, as they’ve been advocating for 20 years.
“We’ve never been able to get enough agreement between both Democrats and Republicans on a compromise to get it to the finish line,” Naerebout said. “Each of the past two Congresses we’ve seen, and Congressman Simpson’s been a great champion for us on this, we’ve seen the Farm Workforce Modernization Act pass the house each of the last two Congress’s, but it hasn’t been able to move in the Senate.”
As for the future, Naerebout is hoping congress will come up with a solution that will help farmers not just in Idaho, but nationwide.
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