(Photo by TikTok)
Kansas farmers are warning of escalating financial risk as labor shortages linked to immigration enforcement collide with ongoing trade challenges.
Several producers say the sudden loss of immigrant workers has left crops unharvested and contracts at risk. Farmers who depend on seasonal labor report that workers have left abruptly, fearing detention or deportation.
In some cases, entire harvesting crews have disappeared overnight, leaving growers unable to meet deadlines.
One Kansas farmer said his unharvested carrot crop, valued at nearly $1 million, could result in cancelled contracts and legal action if it is not harvested within days.
He said the work cannot be completed without experienced labor and that bankruptcy is a real possibility.
Beyond individual farms, immigration attorneys and agricultural groups warn that continued deportations could destabilise Kansas’s meat and livestock industries.
Processing plants face worker shortages that could slow production, reduce supply, and raise consumer prices nationwide.
Trade disruptions continue to compound the problem. Farmers say lost export markets, particularly in China, have not fully returned, leaving excess supply and depressed prices.
Many warn that long-term damage to trade relationships could permanently alter the state’s agricultural economy.
As planting and harvesting seasons approach, farmers say the combination of labor shortages and market instability is creating an unsustainable outlook for Kansas agriculture.
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