| HN Mirror

Hired farmworkers make up less than 1 percent of all US wage and salary workers (per USDA 2023). 43 million acres of corn is for ethanol biofuel alone, the need for which diminishes over time as light vehicle electrification continues. Urban areas are unlikely to go without food entirely, although the mix might change (less beef due to cattle herds shrinking [1], less dairy as smaller dairies continue to collapse [2], and so on). Based on the data, there is plenty of slack in the food production system as Rural America evaporates [3]. California is the country's largest ag product producer, for example, and also the world's fifth largest economy. You know who imports the most soybeans from the US? China [4]. Good luck to those farmers as China retaliates against US tariffs.