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Abstract
Foreign labor has become
increasingly important component
of U.S. agriculture. Disruption in the
supply of agricultural labor has been
argued to significantly affect
agricultural production. This study
analyzes the impacts of foreign labor
shortages on the dairy industry
using national survey data. The
results suggest that a 30 percent
hired foreign labor shortage will
result in 10.1 billion pound decline
in total U.S. milk production. This
is equivalent to a loss of 458.9
thousand dairy cows. One of the key
implications of this study is the need
for immigration or labor policies
that help maintain consistent labor
availability and stability of the dairy
farm workforce.