155,000 Farm Workers Disappeared. Crops Rotted in the Fields.

155,000 Workers Gone in Five Months

American farms lost 155,000 workers between March and July 2025. The year before, agricultural employment grew 2.2% during the same period. This year it fell 6.5%. The difference is immigration enforcement.

155,000 fewer farm workers. 38.9% spike in wholesale vegetable prices. $5 million in blueberries left on the vine. Georgia tried this in 2011. The replacement workers quit after one day.

Wholesale dry and fresh vegetable prices jumped 38.9% from June to July 2025. That was the largest increase since March 2022. The Trump administration’s own Labor Department warned in October that the shortage “presents a risk of supply shock-induced food shortages.”

The Raids

On June 4, 2025, masked Homeland Security agents armed with rifles swept onto Outlook Dairy Farms in Lovington, New Mexico, brushing past biosecurity signs for H5 bird flu. They arrested 11 workers and fired 24 more after an employment audit. Isaak Bos lost 35 of his 55 workers in a single day. Milk production stopped. Family members and teenagers were pulled into basic cow care to keep the herd alive.

In Berkshire, Vermont, 8 migrant workers were detained at Pleasant Valley Farms, the largest dairy in the state. Governor Phil Scott publicly condemned it. In Omaha, 76 workers were arrested at Glenn Valley Foods, half the workforce. In Oxnard, California, federal agents chased workers through strawberry and broccoli fields. Between 25% and 45% of farmworkers in Ventura County stopped showing up out of fear, even those who were not targeted.

On July 10, DHS agents threw flash-bang grenades at protesters during raids at Glasshouse Farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo, California. Among those in the crowd was U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal.

$5 Million in Blueberries Left on the Vine

Brandon Raso’s blueberry farm in New Jersey could only fill 200 of 600 needed positions. His H-2A workers dropped from 250 to 30. He lost 2.5 million pounds of blueberries. That is a $5 million loss on a single farm. New Jersey blueberry production fell from 60 million pounds to approximately 36 million, a 40% decline.

California farmers reported up to 70% of workers missing in the wake of raids. The Oxnard area alone faces estimated annual crop losses of $3 to $7 billion. The Labor Department found that a 10% decrease in the agricultural workforce results in a 4.2% drop in fruit and vegetable production and a 5.5% decline in farm revenue.

Dairy Cannot Survive Without Immigrant Workers

Immigrants account for 51% of all dairy labor. Dairies employing immigrant labor produce 79% of the U.S. milk supply. In Wisconsin, approximately 70% of dairy work is performed by undocumented workers.

The National Milk Producers Federation calculated what happens if these workers are fully removed. Retail milk prices would increase 90%. The U.S. dairy herd would shrink by 2.1 million cows. Milk production would fall by nearly 50 billion pounds. Over 7,000 dairy farms would close. Total economic cost: $32.1 billion, with 208,000 jobs lost.

Dairy farms cannot use H-2A visas because the program only covers seasonal work. Cows need milking year-round. There is no legal pathway for dairy to hire the workers it depends on.

Georgia Tried This in 2011. It Failed.

Georgia passed HB 87 in May 2011, requiring E-Verify for large employers. Within weeks, the University of Georgia documented a shortage of more than 5,000 farm workers and $140 million in crop losses. Blueberries, onions, and melons rotted. Total economic losses for the 2011 growing season ranged from $300 million to $1 billion.

Governor Nathan Deal’s solution was to use probationers to pick crops. Two-thirds of them walked off the job or refused to return after one day.

Alabama did the same thing with HB 56, signed into law to take effect at harvest time. Tomato farmer Chad Smith lost 80% of his crew overnight. Brian Cash left 15,000 boxes of tomatoes unharvested. Professor Samuel Addy at the University of Alabama estimated the state could lose up to $10.8 billion, 6.2% of GDP, 140,000 jobs, and $357.5 million in state and local tax revenue.

Both states proved the same thing. Domestic workers do not replace immigrant labor in agriculture. The work is too physical, too low-paid, and too skilled for untrained replacements. Everyone who tries this learns the same lesson.

The Administration Quietly Noticed

In November 2025, the administration eased off farm raids and expanded foreign agricultural worker admissions. The policy reversal was not announced publicly. It was buried in operational guidance. The administration started the fire and then quietly opened a window when the smoke got too thick.

Washington allocated $170 billion to ICE and Border Patrol through September 2029, targeting one million deportations per year. The farms that feed the country are collateral damage in a policy that even its architects had to walk back.

What You Can Do

Call your U.S. senators and demand they pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would create year-round agricultural visas and give existing workers a path to legal status.
Pay attention to food prices and connect them to the policy causing them. The 38.9% vegetable price spike is not inflation. It is enforcement.
Support organizations tracking these raids in real time, including Civil Eats and Investigate Midwest.

Read more on the Immigration hub and the tariff grocery price impact.