Congress: Walk In my shoes
When Randy Mouw, a California dairy producer, testified before the House Committee on Agriculture this fall, he invited any members of Congress who think immigration reform is a matter of cheap labor “to come and walk just a day in my shoes.” Mouw, his wife, Rose, and their son Ryan milk 1,400 cows with the help of 17 employees at their Misty Morning Dairy near Ontario, Calif. Mouw went to Washington on behalf of the Western United Dairymen, the Dairy Farmers of America and the National Milk Producers Federation. He talks about why he went public on labor and immigration reform.
Q: Many dairy producers would rather stay under the radar and not express their immigration and labor views in a public forum. Why did you agree to testify?
We no longer have an agrarian society, so dairy producers have to do the job ourselves of telling others that what we’re doing is good. I like what we do on our dairy. We produce a good, nutritious product. It’s no longer a question of worrying about whether we’ll be a target if we stand up or get involved. It’s time to become an advocate for our industry if we want to continue to be able to do our work.
Q:Briefly, what did you tell the Ag Committee, which included Chairman Collin Peterson, Ranking Minority Member Bob Goodlatte, and your own California Congressman, Joe Baca?
That the labor needs of our nation’s farms and ranches are the most difficult challenge facing food production in this country today. That not one person who has walked on my dairy looking for work in the past five years is a person who was born in this country. Additional labor for our business is a must. Like others, I seek a fair, sensible and workable program to provide labor to our nation’s farmers and ranchers before it becomes a crisis.
I am a strong supporter of more effective border security, as is every dairy producer I know. People should not be coming into this country illegally. But this is nothing less than a food security issue for our country. Without sensible immigration reform, the outsourcing of our food production and processing is a very real possibility.
Q:What was the committee’s response?
They recognize that you may be just one person talking but you represent 10,000 other people. Even so, it was just an educational hearing to look into the labor needs of American agriculture, not one to change policy.
Q:What was the experience like?
It was the first time I had been to Washington, D.C. I liked seeing the interest from the committee members and their staffs. I was one of 12 people from U.S. agriculture who testified, and we all had the same story to tell. We were there to encourage Congress to enact what is achievable: to improve labor force security by providing a sensible, fair and workable program for a legal immigrant agricultural work force.
Catherine Merlo is western dairy editor for Dairy Today and Elite Producer. cmerlo@farmjournal.com
