U.S. dairy farms rely on Hispanic workers

Monday, February 28, 2011

Many dairy farmers, even in Wisconsin, depend upon immigrant labour to run their operations, according to a veterinarian in Waupun, Wis.  Dr. Al Mertens stepped into a contentious and divisive debate over how to deal with undocumented workers in a guest column that appeared in the The (Fond du Lac) Reporter, in early January. Mertens wrote: "Dairy managers would like to avoid the language barriers and constant worries about immigration issues. They have enough problems managing their farms without adding more problems. But the truth is they can't find local Americans who want to fill the positions and show up to work . . . If we eliminated the Hispanic labour force the price of milk would increase and the banking industry would be forced to absorb a few billion more in bad loans as dairies fold.

"Our economy can't afford to send every illegal back to Mexico and replace them with a documented worker. The law abiding Hispanics that are here and working every day help everyone else eat cheap food and import cheaper goods." While comments on the website replying to the story were generally favourable, there was one strong suggestion that the entire dairy industry should be indicted for taking part in a criminal conspiracy. BF