The Worry Box and the Washington Breakthrough: H-2A Opens a Door for an Edge-of-the-Seat Dairy Industry

ZISK APP
Jun 30
1 min read

For dairy farmer Denton Ross, the reality of the U.S. agricultural labor crisis isn’t a talking point debated in committee hearings or white papers. It is something he sees through the windshield of his truck.

Milking 3,000 cows in the desert heat of Gila Bend, Az., Ross manages the family-run Arizona Dairy Company just 70 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is a region defined by extreme weather, tight water resources and — lately — an intense, highly visible surge in federal immigration enforcement.

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Denton Ross(Provided by Denton Ross)

“We’ve had a huge immigration and ICE presence currently, like this past week,” Ross shared at the 2026 HighGround Dairy Conference in Chicago this week. “Say you have a worry box, and it’s always full of whatever you’re worrying about. Currently, that’s what I’m worrying about for the dairy, is how that’s going to play out.”

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