By Max Johnston

Farms across the Midwestern United States are being forced to shut down and in some cases leave crops rotting in the field because farmers can’t fill open jobs.

According to one story, asparagus growers in Michigan lost over a million pounds of product in 2013 alone, due to labor shortages.

Stephanie Mercier is a principal at Agricultural Perspectives, a Washington DC-based consulting firm. She says that immigration laws are preventing Midwestern farmers from filling jobs, and that’s keeping food off the table.

In the immigration debate, voices from southern states like California, Nevada and Texas are often the loudest. But Midwestern farmers also rely on immigrant labor and have entirely different labor needs.

The problem? No one seems to be listening.

We talked about Midwestern crops, President Trump’s immigration plan and much more.

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