Times are tough for farmers across the nation, who are suffering through everything from low milk prices to severe labor shortages. Now, more than ever, dairy producers of all sizes – and the allied businesses that support them – are seeing how federal policy, such as immigration executive actions, EPA overregulation and more, directly impact the future viability of our businesses.

The American Dairy Coalition recently held an immigration round table during World Dairy Expo to discuss new federal policy options and a path forward in resolving our broken immigration system.

Each day, folks across the country head to the grocery store to purchase food to feed their families. A look in the shopping carts will show Americans love their dairy products, which they should. Study after study has shown these tasty products deliver serious health benefits, yet the industry is at the brink of collapse from a lack of secure, reliable labor.

A few months ago, farmers across the state of Wisconsin witnessed much of their Latino workforce walk off their farms to participate in a protest in the state capitol to raise awareness of immigration policy reform. Farmers faced the reality of a future without the immigrant workforce, which currently composes over half of the dairy industry’s labor force.

$37,500 daily – that is what the EPA fined Andy Johnson of Wyoming when he built a pond on his land to water his horses. $37,500 a day, even though he obtained his required permits allowing for the construction of his pond.