January 15, 2026 – The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that has roiled Minneapolis and led to the shooting death of Renee Good is also impacting farms and food business across Minnesota, according to legislators, government officials, and farmers.

“ICE is terrorizing our communities, including our farm communities,” Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said at a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday morning. “They are not just in the Twin Cities. They are everywhere.” Craig said one Minnesota dairy farmer had reached out to her about his workers not wanting to come in because agents were waiting near the farm.

At a separate press conference hosted by state legislators at the state capitol on Wednesday, state Senator Aric Putnam, a Democrat, said he had received reports that the state’s guest farmworkers, who have legal status through the H-2A program, are afraid to go to work. “We are actually in our communities, unlike Kristi Noem,” Putnam said. “We’re in our communities and we know what’s going on in them.”

Minnesota Farmers Union president Gary Wertish, a grain and livestock farmer, said that the union’s members “are increasingly concerned about ICE’s operations in greater Minnesota.” Restaurant closures due to safety concerns are impacting the farms that supply them, he said.

Arrests and ensuing protests have taken place at Target, a major grocer, and a local news outlet reported that on Tuesday, agents arrested a worker at a turkey-processing plant during a shift change. (Hormel, which owns Jennie O Turkey, did not respond to Civil Eats’ request for confirmation or details.)

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP), which supports Minnesota farms and rural communities, sent out a press release detailing the organization’s efforts to protect immigrants in the state’s rural communities.

“LSP supports our immigrant neighbors, no matter their status, because we believe we will not have a sustainable farm and food system until it is sustainable for everyone,” said Nick Olson, a farmer and organizer with LSP, who told Civil Eats he heard reports of farmers impacted but all were afraid to speak out due to safety concerns.

At the state press conference, Andrea Vaubel, Minnesota’s deputy commissioner of agriculture, said that the issue could have serious ripple effects. “We’re talking grocery stores, we’re talking food processing facilities, we’re talking meat processors, we’re talking about dairy farms,” she said. “The food supply will be significantly affected if this continues like this.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment. (Link to this post.)

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