Tony DiMare’s family owns 4,000 acres of tomato farms across Florida and California. Sadly, his Florida crops have been mowed over and left to rot, as with many tomato vines across the state.
DiMare told WSVN 7 Miami that President Donald Trump’s tariff and immigration policies are driving farmers to abandon their crops.
In January, he warned that Trump’s crackdown on migrants would squeeze farmers, who rely on migrants to pick produce.
About 50% of farm workers in the U.S. — including skilled supervisors and machine operators — are undocumented migrants, according to Farmonaut, a farm technology company.
As the Trump administration proceeds with mass deportations of undocumented migrants, there are far fewer pickers in the fields, and crops are left to go bad.
One farmer spoke to WSVN about fellow migrants leaving Florida each day. He spoke on condition of anonymity, concerned he might be deported himself.
"A lot of people are really afraid, and sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t,” he said. “And the harvest is lost because it cannot be harvested.”
The labor shortage also means Florida farmers have to pay more for labor. At the same time, they’re getting less money for their produce due to Trump’s tariff policies.
From January through April, Trump’s threatened tariffs triggered Mexican suppliers to double or even triple tomato exports to the U.S.
The U.S. market was flooded with Mexican tomatoes. Florida farmers saw the wholesale price of a box of tomatoes plummet from $16 to $3 or $4 per box. DiMare said tomato farmers need around $10 or $11 per box to break even.
“You can’t even afford to pick them right now,” said Heather Moehling, president of the Miami-Dade County Farm Bureau. “Between the cost of the labor and the inputs that go in, it’s more cost-effective for the farmers to just plow them right now.”
Tariffs and immigration policies can have a knock-on effect on farmers, right down to grocery stores. If U.S. farmers don’t have enough workers to harvest crops, Americans will have to buy more imported produce and pay higher costs due to tariffs.