How the U.S. dairy industry, from farming to trucking, relies on immigrant labor
This story is a CBS Report The documentary “The Price of Milk” is within the supply chain from the farm to the table. It aired on Sunday, March 9 CBS News 24/7 9 p.m. ET.
Petaluma, California – In California, Manuel Castro, the first dairy producer in El Salvador, plays a crucial role in bringing milk to market.
“It’s a process, during which time, there are 24 hours a day … there are no holidays,” Castro told CBS News.
Castro lived in California for about 30 years and became a U.S. citizen in 2009. On this day, he loaded nearly 5,000 gallons of milk into a tank, which would be taken to the processing plant and finally arrived at the store within 24 hours.
Castro works at Moga Transportation.
“We have nearly 90 trucks,” said Harwinder Singh Brar, who co-owns Moga Transportation with his wife Prab Gill.
According to the Transportation Bureau, more than 3 billion tons of agricultural products are moved each year across the United States, and trucks carry most of the cargo.
Brar is a Punjabi Sikh from India who first came to the United States with his hockey team in 1998. Because of the religious persecution he encountered in his motherland, he did not return home, but stayed for asylum.
Some of his employees have worked in the company for ten years or more. Blaal said he tried to make sure they were treated well.
“Well, this is my family,” Blaal said. “They are not employees. They are our family.”
Truck transport relies on immigration labor, Blaal said. He speculated that without it, the industry would be “closed”.
“Well, trucking will be closed because it’s mostly immigration right now,” Jill explained. “It’s changed a lot.”
Trump administration It’s already started A major repression About Immigration. But a study by the National Milk Manufacturers Federation, a group that advocates dairy producers, shows that eliminating the immigrant labor force will lead to a 90% increase in retail milk prices.
Dairy farmers in Wisconsin Telled CBS News last month About 90% of the work on the farm is done by immigrants.
“If I hire Americans to do this job, I could pay about $100,000 a year, and they can only work 40-50 hours a week at that rate,” said farmer John Rosenow. “Obviously, I can’t afford as much money as they want.”
“It’s about working hard. These guys, wake up, two minutes in the morning, a little bit in the morning, they go out. You know, they’re done around 11, 10 pm. The milk keeps stopping. It won’t stop.”
