How do you say, "Moo", in Spanish?
Posted on 03/31/2015 12:02:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This immigration story takes place far from the southern border and actually hits rather close to home for me, since it’s set in upstate New York. What’s that you say? We don’t have an illegal immigrant problem in the northeast? Think again. Apparently the use of illegal farm labor is still all the rage up here, but it just doesn’t get the same sort of press coverage. Particularly hard hit by a lack of “comprehensive immigration reform” are the dairy farmers.
When Mike McMahon’s Latino employees need to go to the bank, the pharmacy or the grocery store, he makes sure someone drives them to town, waits while they run errands, and then brings them safely back to his dairy farm.
Even then, there is no guarantee law enforcement in their small, rural community won’t spot the workers, ask for their IDs, and put them on a path toward deportation if they cannot prove they are here legally. It is a risk that dairy farmers in this agricultural region have faced for years, but it is hitting them harder as immigration reform languishes in Washington and the nation’s demand for milk-heavy products like Greek yogurt soars.
“It’s just crazy,” said McMahon, who has several hundred cows at his farm more than 200 miles north of New York City.
“I’m a lifelong Republican,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’m telling you, there are days when I think about switching.”
Reporters interviewed a number of farmers who complained that they couldn’t get the “locals” to sign on to do the dirty, manual jobs which are required on a dairy farm. Also, there are regulations which allow bringing in legal immigrants with temporary guest worker visas, but those are only useful for agricultural work during harvest or planting season. Dairy farms run year round, so those types of guest workers are not viable. Still, there’s a bit of denial of reality when they come right out and admit that they are breaking the law.
Without new immigration laws, he and other farmers say, the nation will lose dairy producers, because farmers will switch to growing crops whose workers are eligible for temporary guest-worker visas.
“The U.S. dairy industry absolutely cannot survive without this,” said Dale, a dairy farmer who has moved toward robotic milking to avoid the labor problem. Like many dairy farmers, he did not want his full name or his farm’s name used because he was concerned that immigration officials would target his business.
There aren’t many cases where common ground is found on the immigration reform question, but this actually might be one of them. If we already have agricultural workers who have qualified for and are issued temporary visas for agricultural work, switching that to a year long visa contingent on the sponsorship of a farm owner who is employing them twelve months per year might be doable on a limited scale.
But I’m still stuck on the idea that we can’t find workers to do these jobs. As one of the farmers interviewed in the article states, he’s been paying the dairy workers in his employ an average of $2K per month plus housing on the farm with all utilities paid for. (Also meals in some cases.) Particularly in a tough economy, we can’t find citizens to take that deal? I worked on family farms in the summer growing up doing exactly that sort of work from time to time. It’s hard, no doubt about it. But it’s an honest job, and a lot better than starving. Perhaps the farmers need to raise their milk prices slightly and bump up the wages a bit? I don’t know, but it really seems like this could all be accomplished without being “forced” to hire illegal aliens.
Switch, jerk. Don’t let the barn door handle hit ya in the uhhh.. Rear.
“The U.S. dairy industry absolutely cannot survive without this,” said Dale, a dairy farmer who has moved toward robotic milking to avoid the labor problem.
Funny, the dairy industry survived just fine without Illegals fro quite a long time.
But now we are supposed to believe something magically changed?
Come to Texas. You can have all you can load up and haul off.
This is why the policy of arresting illegals, who have nothing to lose and will just come back, is so stupid.
Jail the EMPLOYERS, who are easy to find and have something to lose, and they will soon STOP hiring illegals, and the illegals will stop coming here.
Milk is too expensive, we need them to work cheap to lower the cost.
stop food stamps and welfare he will have plenty of hungry people begging to work...either that or pay a real supply/demand wage.
no free lunch
I worked on a dairy farm. Mostly field work but did often help with feeding calves and other stuff.
Exactly.
>>I worked on a dairy farm. Mostly field work but did often help with feeding calves and other stuff.<<
?Qual es su nombre Mexicano?
Total BS!
These are jobs that kids used to do. They would earn some money and the dairy farmer would get the cheaper labor. Child labor laws are what they need to push be reformed, not the immigration laws.
I would rather pay a little higher food bill or buy less milk and cheese than allow farmers to flout the law and cry that they can't survive without illegals. Even if amnesty is granted, what then? All of these newly legal workers will be able to work above the table and be able to get jobs that aren't so dirty and manual and he'll have to pay more... unless the borders remain open and he'll be able to get a new batch of illegals. Most employers don't want real amnesty. They want illegals to remain illegal with just enough enforcement against the workers to keep then scared and willing to work crap jobs, but absolutely no enforcement against the employers.
Mike can move back to the British Isles if he doesn’t give a crap about Americans.
BTW Mike, who says you “own” that land - the Americans or the Mexicans?
You can always move to Oaxaca. Better weather there then upstate Noo Yawk, right?
Except the locals won’t say you own the property.
In the meantime Mike, how ‘bout you tell yer state government that all those deadbeats on welfare in the City need to come out where you are and work for you?
Last I heard the number was in the millions. Should be able to find one or two guys willing to help out.
Maybe he could as Our Glorious Leader to ship some to New York.
“It’s hard, no doubt about it. But it’s an honest job, and a lot better than starving.”
STARVING?? Hardly with all the freebies FedGov hands out. Precisely therein lies the problem. If people really had the wolf at the door, they’d grab these jobs.
But now we are supposed to believe something magically changed?”
Actually several things did change. The population increased as have the markets. When my generation was growing up we didn’t have yogurt, particularly 500 flavors of it. Farmers also had large families. TV, advertising and the internet were introduced. Would appear that no one gave much thought to the issue of what it would take to meet the demands for new products.
A solution would be to ship people from large cities that currently receive unemployment off to areas that need employees. Lots of young bucks that could fill these jobs. Either work for a living or starve!
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