Trump Administration and Floriculture: Budget Concerns, Immigration, and a Plea to Stop the Madness
June 21, 2025 Each week, the editorial team at Greenhouse Grower and Meister Media Worldwide will bring you the latest updates from the Trump administration’s policies and their impact on floriculture, from labor to the farm bill to funding for anything from federal loans to research and Extension. We also want to hear from you. What questions do you have about immigration enforcement, tariffs, or other topics? Let us know, and we’ll do our best to get you answers.
Here’s our update for June 19.
Specialty Crop Sector Speaks up Amid Latest Budget Bill Developments
The budget reconciliation bill, aka, the “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act,” is causing concern for those that don’t know how the proposed bill will directly affect them. Farmers are keeping a close eye on the bill’s journey. The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives recent passage of the budget reconciliation bill.
“Our message could not be simpler: Whenever Congress invests in American agriculture, it must include specialty crops. As the Senate begins its budget reconciliation process and considers its package of investments for American agriculture, we call upon them to include the investments for specialty crops from the House-passed bill.
“America’s specialty crop growers produce the safe, nutritious foods that more Americans should be consuming, as well as cultivate the trees, flowers, and plants that play a vital role in the nation’s health and wellbeing. They account for half the farm gate value in the U.S., yet receive a small fraction of the farm bill’s resources. Specialty crop growers continue to confront a host of unprecedented challenges impeding their competitiveness, including rising input costs, limited access to labor, unfair trade practices, disruptions to foreign markets and natural disasters ranging from flood to drought. Nothing short of the survival of our domestic industry is at stake.”
IFPA Shares Immigration Enforcement Memo and Statement
Over the past week, the Trump administration has intensified its immigration enforcement efforts, with a particular focus on workplaces employing undocumented laborers, including farms. On Thursday, President Trump made comments committing to preventing labor disruptions within the food supply chain, but did not say what changes he would implement or when they would take effect.
The International Fresh Produce Association has issued the following statement:
“The fresh produce industry proudly grows, harvests, and distributes billions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to American families every year. To meet the ongoing demand for our nutritious products, the industry needs a stable, legal, and predictable workforce. We employ U.S. and foreign workers, but labor shortages and legislative uncertainty threaten the agricultural industry’s ability ensure fresh fruits and vegetables reach consumers.
“Enforcement actions targeting agricultural laborers are highly disruptive to farm operations and the produce supply chain consumers rely on. They are also the culmination of decades of inaction from policymakers and a broken labor system. These actions are exacerbating an already fragile labor situation, threatening the long-term viability of U.S. agriculture, and impacting the broader supply chain, from packers and wholesalers to retailers and transportation providers.”
A Note From the Editor: Please Stop the Madness on Immigration and Tariffs
From Brian Sparks, Editor of Greenhouse Grower: Running a greenhouse business, or any specialty crop business for that matter, is never easy. Your seasonal income can live or die by the weather, shifting consumer tastes, or other uncontrollable factors such as energy costs, transportation costs, and more.
The one thing you can control as a business owner is your ability to plan ahead. For greenhouse owners, the end of spring is when the planning for the coming year begins, including budget forecasting and staffing.
Which brings me to my point: This administration’s constant back and forth on tariff policies and immigration is doing the grower no favor. We’ve already reported on tariff fluctuations causing major challenges for growers trying to plan for next year. On immigration, in just one week, we heard stories about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials targeting the farming community, to pausing raids, to lifting these pauses. It’s gotten to the point where some farming companies say their workers aren’t showing up for fear of being targeted.
I feel for any business trying to navigate through these challenges. But when the goalposts keep moving amid these constant shifts in focus, it makes things that much harder.
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