Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller told Texas Public Radio that President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is not going to impact Texas farmers.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, roughly 50% – 70% of farmworkers in the United States are undocumented immigrants.
Despite these numbers, Commissioner Miller says Texas doesn’t use much undocumented labor anymore, thanks to advancements in agricultural technology.
“We’ve gotten into ‘Agriculture three-point-O,’ which is technology. So we got cows that milk themselves. Tractors that drive themselves. We can harvest almost all of our crops mechanically — including vegetables now,” Miller told Texas Public Radio.
Despite his claims, the agricultural industry in the United States heavily relies on cheap labor and government subsidies to offer competitive prices on their produce. If these farmers cannot find cheap labor, they will be forced to raise prices. This would mean that Americans may see their grocery prices rise in the coming months.
President Trump has several options to address these potential issues. He could implement tariffs to reduce foreign competition, but without increasing subsidies to farmers, prices would still be high.
Only time will tell how the federal and state governments will respond to the looming crisis.