every year the farmers in CaliforniaThe Central Valley relies heavily on the labor of hundreds of thousands of farm workers to grow and harvest their crops.
But many in the region produce one quarter of the country’s food, designated by the president Donald TrumpMillions of undocumented migrants have been promised to be deported – a move that could result in the country’s agricultural output falling from up to $60bn – There is no danger to life.
Some do not seem to believe him. “I don’t see that it’s going to be an impact to deport anyone who wants to work on the farm,” says Tom Barcellos, who milks his 1,600 Holstein cows. the village in Tulare County.
As Trump’s tariffs and deportation threats grow in importance, many Americans are struggling to understand why voters in agriculture-dependent counties across the US are so loyal to the president-elect as to vote him through. by a margin of three to one in November there are presidential elections.
But farmers like Barcellos say they trust Trump.
In his previous White House order, Trump met with Barcellos and others in the Central Valley in person to hear their concerns about water access for their farms. At the time, environmental regulations meant that farmers and ranchers in the region were facing higher limits for access to water in part because of their efforts to protect fish and other animals.
The water understood our situation; he understood what business was in agriculture, and he was so determined as to prevent anything from our business,’ he said.
“He promised to make amends.”
Three years in his administration, in the year 2020; Trump did exactly that.
As the Biden era comes to an end, farmers like the Barcellos say they are drowning in costs and red tape from strict environmental and emissions regulations that have been introduced by Democratic leaders at the federal and state levels, at a time when America’s free culture is crumbling. .
A drought in the Corn Belt; low crop pricesand China is withdrawing many from its long-standing dependence on US corn and soybeans American farmers on their knees. The number of US farms fell by 141,000 between 2017 and 2012; according to US Department of Agriculture census data.
Although Trump’s threats and bragging are seen by farmers as a bulwark against the progressive environmental movement, some of them say he has created agricultural problems without major solutions.
“Emissions has raised the cost of all our equipment to ridiculous levels,” says Barcellos, a third-generation farmer.
He says the same model of coach he bought five years ago is $100,000 more expensive than buying it today. Some reports suggest that runs a large electric rig as much as twice the cost of diesel engines. Last year on the California Air Resources Board voted ban Sales of new diesel trucks from 2036.
“I can’t afford an electric truck. Time,” said Barcellos.
On the tariffs front, many farmers believe Trump will have his back. Although his previous tariffs cost American agriculture about $27bn in 2018 and 2019, according to Trump gave the farm a record price of $ 32bn in direct agricultural aid against the effects. After a year’s war, should they renew their trumpet of trade, some viewers believe tried again in the offing.
But others believe that Trump’s preemptive efforts to impose tariffs on foreign goods will not have the same effect as before.
Since China is no longer dependent on US corn and soybeans – America’s top two export interests – as it was during Trump’s first trade war, industry specialists say China is better prepared and instead worry that a new trade war could hit US farmers in the long term. .
“While exports may be diverted to other countries, there is not enough demand from the rest of the world to accommodate a major loss of soybean exports to China.” an October report was found by the National Corn Growers Association.
Others wonder if the delays in sending farmers to offset possible losses are sustainable.
“Tariffs and tariffs will affect the comprehensive economy and will mean a worse future for the grain market, domestic food production and processing, more national debt than what happened under the Democrats,” said Bill Wiley, a farmer in Shelby County. , Ohio, which has seen a small number of Nicaraguan laborers harvest squash and pumpkins for its farm every fall through the H-2A agricultural program.
“All those farmers have to be turned away.”
While Harris carried his home state of California with ease, in Barcellos County, largely farmers in Tulare, 200 miles from Oakland, his hometown. Trump won more than 20%.
Not all farmers, including Wiley, voted for Trump, and given the president-elect’s apparent threats to agriculture and food production, it’s hard to explain why many farmers would.
Either way, what happens once Trump takes office in the next month is likely to affect millions of people.
“If we assume that half of our agricultural labor is undocumented, we can safely say that the best-case scenario for mass deportations is that American food production and supply are cut in half,” says James O’Neill of the American Business Immigration Coalition. About 45%, or 1 million, of US agricultural workers are undocumented.
“We need laws that are already based on working farmers – those with no criminal records who have shown their interest in the US and for American farmers.”
Barcellos, who also serves as the president of the lower Tule River irrigation district, believes that the army is damaging democratic policies and agricultural laws.
Rather than helping immigrant workers, he thinks California’s $15.50 minimum wage for farmworkers and $19.75 an hour for H-2A workers is accelerating the industry’s move toward mechanization, “and workers who hate it.”
“California is pushing the hand of mechanization where they’re trying to stop equipment from running because of the emissions they produce,” he says.
“We run through coastal cities. We may not have a fight.”