{"id":6343,"date":"2025-10-14T16:01:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=6343"},"modified":"2025-10-15T09:44:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T09:44:03","slug":"beth-ford-says-we-need-more-legal-immigration-to-help-american-farmers-because-a-lack-of-labor-could-trigger-a-black-swan-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=6343","title":{"rendered":"Beth Ford says ‘we need more legal immigration’ to help American farmers because a lack of labor could trigger a ‘black swan event’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the Fortune Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit Tuesday morning, Land O\u2019Lakes CEO Beth Ford warned<\/a> that American farmers face a critical labor shortage that could lead to a \u201cblack swan event\u201d if the U.S. doesn\u2019t institute more pathways for legal immigration.\u200b \u201cWhile there might be some discussion on undocumented, et cetera, this is critical for the health of the economy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Ford, who chairs the Business Roundtable\u2019s immigration committee<\/a>, told the MPW audience that farmers \u201cabsolutely need labor,\u201d adding that \u201cwe need more legal immigration\u201d as an economic driver for businesses and the broader U.S. economy. For some context, America\u2019s agricultural sector is currently grappling with mounting pressures from trade disputes, farm bankruptcies, and an increasingly restrictive immigration environment.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are folks who oftentimes try to get American labor [but] are struggling to do so,\u201d Ford said. \u201cThey absolutely need labor, and if they don\u2019t have it, that\u2019s yet another element\u2014and it could be a black swan event for a farmer if they don\u2019t have somebody who can help and be on [the] farm.\u201d <\/p>\n

The term \u201cblack swan event,\u201d for those unfamiliar, refers to an unpredictable occurrence with severe consequences that appears obvious only in hindsight. In agriculture, such events can include natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or severe labor disruptions that threaten food production systems.\u200b<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s comments underscore the precarious position of American farmers who depend heavily on immigrant workers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a>, as of 2022, only 32% of crop farmworkers were actually born in the U.S. The vast majority of farmworkers (~42%) are born outside the U.S. and have no work authorization. Only a small percentage of workers (~7%) are immigrants who obtained U.S. citizenship, while about 19% are authorized immigrants (permanent residents or green-card holders). In the dairy industry, which Ford\u2019s company, Land O\u2019Lakes, serves, the dependency on foreign-born labor is even more pronounced: The National Milk Producers Federation says<\/a> immigrant workers account for 51% of all dairy labor.\u200b<\/p>\n

Ford previously told Fortune<\/em> that an immigration crisis can take about eight hours to unfold, because if cows aren\u2019t milked, they start to leak milk and could develop infections, to the point that farmers might be forced to cull their herds and send the cows to be killed at a meat-processing plant. But those, too, could also be short on workers.\u200b<\/p>\n

Ford accepted the role of immigration committee chair for the Business Roundtable in January, taking over from Apple CEO Tim Cook. The Business Roundtable, which represents more than 200 major corporate CEOs, supports increased skilled immigration, temporary work visas, and border security measures. Ford said, \u201cMost CEOs will say we need some kind of change in our immigration policy,\u201d while acknowledging that crossings at the southern border have declined by approximately 95%.\u200b<\/p>\n

During the MPW discussion, Ford addressed recent policy proposals including a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, saying her organization is \u201ctrying to get some clarity\u201d on the specifics while working with administration officials on various visa-related initiatives. The agricultural sector has lost about 155,000 workers since March, and the Labor Department has said ICE\u2019s efforts will create \u201csignificant labor market effects in the agricultural sector, which has long been pushed to depend on a workforce with a high proportion of illegal aliens,\u201d and could put \u201cthe nation\u2019s food supply at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can watch the full panel<\/a> with Land O\u2019Lakes CEO Beth Ford, in conversation with Fortune\u2019<\/em>s Emma Hinchliffe, below.<\/p>\n