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Since the early 20th century, Wisconsin proudly claims the identity of America’s Dairyland while the state emerged as the nation’s leading producer of dairy products. Today, that reality is at risk as farmers struggle to retain workers and keep up with production. Undocumented immigrant laborers fill a large number of job vacancies in rural areas where the local labor force has been shrinking for decades. A 2023 survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School for Workers found that approximately 70% of labor on Wisconsin dairy farms is performed by undocumented immigrants (Ibarra, et al., 2023). Historically, farms, and the trade, were passed down through family to the younger generation. However, today, the declining rural population, the increasing size of dairies, and the dangers of physical labor has left farm owners statewide struggling to find native-born workers. This labor gap is reinforced by outdated immigration laws.
Dairy farmers are excluded from the H-2A visa program because federal law does not recognize dairy work as seasonal. This ambiguity leaves farmers without a legal pathway to hire the workers they depend on, and often excludes migrant workers from enforceable workforce protections. Under the Trump Administration’s escalation in immigration detainment and deportation, undocumented workers have faced detention, or live in fear of deportation. The National Milk Producers Federation warns that losing the foreign-born workforce would nearly double retail milk prices and cost the total U.S. economy more than $32 billion (NMPF, 2015). Despite the economic importance of these workers, the lack of legal pathways and the threat of deportation continue to destabilize Wisconsin’s farming communities. The dairy industry generates nearly half of Wisconsin’s annual industrial agricultural revenue and makes up about 6.5% of the entire state economy (UW-Madison’s Department of Agriculture, 2022). The loss of this revenue would be devastating to Wisconsin families, where the effects reach far beyond the dairy barn.
Wisconsin’s dairy farms do not function without immigrant labor. Research from the Migration Policy Institute suggests that the economy grows when immigrants move to the U.S. (Gelatt, 2024). Where there are more consumers, there are more workers and more business owners, inevitably creating more opportunity for everyone. Immigrants are essential to keeping production prices stable and ensuring the longevity of Wisconsin’s small, family-owned farms and rural communities. Wisconsin must be committed to supporting policies that reform the agricultural labor framework to provide permanent legal status to current workers and their families while ensuring dairy farmers have access to a reliable, functional guest worker program. Without them, labor shortages will threaten Wisconsin’s economy and the future of our dairy farms.
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– Prado, D-Milwaukee, represents the 9th Assembly District.
