Hundreds of Arkansas farmers plead for help on their struggling farms

@yestestvennaya maybe the nice farm owners should've thought of that before agreeing to deport their farm workers?

@basilfawlty89 Did they?

@yestestvennaya they did.
Destroying your business because you hate brown people and to "stick it to the libs" turns out to be a bad business plan.

@yestestvennaya did they vote for Trump? Everyone knew his plans, you could have read Project 2025 and learned what he planned!

@basilfawlty89 Who are brown people? What do they have to do with it?

How do you know whom they voted for? Why does it matter to you?

@yestestvennaya
Brown people - predominantly people from Mexico and Central America who are being deporter to basically concentration camps without due process regardless of legal status.

Trump voters votee for this.
That are voted predominantly for Trump.

As someone of Mexican descent - I have no pity for those trying to oppress my people.
Sorry, not sorry.

@basilfawlty89 You and I share musical tastes. We shouldn't argue about politics. I say that farmers are essential, and that their politics is irrelevant. I don't think SatanBurger understands the real world. She is wrongheaded.

@yestestvennaya no, she's very right.
The people who actually grow and pick the produce are the farm workers, not the owners. A business can survive a change of ownership or no owners, but it can't survive without workers.

Regarding above you talked about voting - workers, not private owners or the state, should and democratically manage the business.

Mother Anarchy Loves Her Sons.

@basilfawlty89 You can run a business into the ground. How many fail? They fail when they don't know what they're doing.

Most of the workers are not brown.

@yestestvennaya most farm workere are brown. Most Mexican and Central Americans are brown due to having predominantly indigenous ancestry.

Owning stuff ≠ knowing anything about finance, management, labour.

@yestestvennaya
it's not my fault farmers voted for Trump and are losing their farms from lack of workers that they took advantage of. I didn't put a gun to their heads and force them to. They'd rather deport than pay them decent wages and make them citizens.

There was an article a long time ago about farmers exploiting migrants, these farmers need them but at the same time they are racist towards them. They hate hiring them but know they need them.

So they vote for Trump instead of just fighting to protect their workers and thank them for the hard work they do.

And honestly? I don't need rice. I like rice and of course want there to be veggies but
I've known people to survive a long time on butter 🧈 and meat. So I'll be fine.

Throw in some canned fish from over seas with the bones and mussels and oysters. Organ meats, pemmican, butter, eggs 🥚

It's all good 👍

@basilfawlty89 Great minds think alike ☺

@SatanBurger

@basilfawlty89 I have had a few. I may be less polite. What makes you think the US farm workers are brown? They are not. Most are white.

@yestestvennaya Yes lack of migrant workers is why, many aren't showing up either due to ice terrorism. Also all these issues could be fixed if we fixed the list of issues in our immigration policies and made migrants American citizens.

https://www.cato.org/blog/why-legal-immigration-system-broken-short-list-problems

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/why-legal-immigration-nearly-impossible

Here's an ai overview:

Arkansas farmers are struggling due to a persistent labor shortage, a national trend that has hit the state's agriculture sector hard. The state's $24 billion agricultural industry is heavily reliant on migrant workers, and the decreasing availability of this workforce puts significant pressure on farmers.

Causes of the labor shortage

Decline in migration: The number of new immigrants working in agriculture has significantly dropped nationwide, partly due to stricter immigration policies.

The agricultural workforce is also aging, with fewer young workers entering the field.

Ineffective visa program:

While the H-2A guest worker program exists, it is often criticized as being cumbersome and too expensive for many farmers. The program's seasonal limits also do not meet the year-round needs of many farm operations.

Competition for labor:

Farmers report difficulty finding and retaining domestic workers for physically demanding farm jobs, and many say American workers often quit after a short time.

Impact on Arkansas farmers

Reduced production:

The labor shortage forces farmers, especially those producing specialty crops like fruits and vegetables, to scale back production. Some fields are left with unharvested crops, leading to significant losses.

Increased costs:

Farmers are faced with higher labor costs, which cuts into their profit margins and jeopardizes the future of multi-generational family farms.

Economic instability:

Compounded by other factors like inflation, high input costs, and low commodity prices, the labor issue is driving some Arkansas farms toward closure and bankruptcy. Recent estimates project a $1.145 billion shortfall for Arkansas farmers in 2025.

@yestestvennaya And plus I just was browsing and saw news about tariffs and how farmers can't keep up with them, that they may need another bail out. Trump's policies make it worse.

@basilfawlty89 nom nom nom nom nom

@yestestvennaya erm...no. Most farm workers are statistically from Mexico, Central America and the northern part of South America. Most who come to do manual labour are overwhelmingly brown and predominantly indigenous in ancestry.
Rich white criollos in Latin America are not doing manual labour in the US. They have landed wealth since the colonization by Spain.

@yestestvennaya statistics don't lie:

https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.tufts.edu/dist/0/4540/files/2020/05/Who-Works-Americas-Farms.pdf

@yestestvennaya so no, Billy Bob didn't provide your meal in the US. Jesus did, he says "de nada".

@basilfawlty89 I have not eaten meal in US since I visited several years ago.

@basilfawlty89 Billy Bob works on farms too. Why do you insist he doesn't?

@basilfawlty89 Jesús may not have Asian ancestry. His roots may be Spanish, which makes him white. Those who are mestizo may also present as white.