Wisconsin dairy farmer says she can’t find farmhands, works 80 hours a week. Then she narrates she rejected the one who did want to work

A dairy farm owner in Westfield, Wisconsin, has sparked a viral internet debate over labor shortages, wages, and immigration policy in rural America.

Abby Swan, who runs a dairy farm with around 300 cows, initially took to TikTok to talk about the stress and frustration she was facing because of a severe shortage of farmhands. The video quickly took a different turn online, with critics arguing that her political views and unwillingness to offer higher wages were part of the reason she was struggling to find workers.

Swan said she has been working around 80 hours a week just to keep the farm running. Her cows have to be milked twice a day, something that is difficult for one person to handle while also taking care of the rest of the farm.

The position remains unfilled

She had previously relied on local students for seasonal help, but many of them returned to school, leaving her short-handed. Swan said she eventually put up a “Help Wanted” sign, but the position remained unfilled.

The biggest reaction online came after Swan talked about a recent job applicant. “I had a guy stop by that wanted $20 an hour and free housing,” Swan said in the video. “I told him to ‘get bent.’ But that’s the sad state of dairy farming.”

Votes to kick undocumented farm workers out of the country

Melts down because she can't find help for her farm pic.twitter.com/bk7UCl7WVy

— Sean O'Neill (@SeanOhhhh) September 23, 2026

Swan explained that she simply could not afford to pay $20 an hour and did not have housing available for employees.

That did not stop critics from going after her online. Some argued that she was expecting people to take on difficult farm work without offering enough compensation, while others connected her worker shortage to her political views.

Swan has said her financial problems are not unique to her farm. Speaking to Spectrum News, she pointed to the rising cost of seed, fertilizer, diesel fuel and other expenses involved in running a dairy operation. She also said milk haulers and delivery drivers were passing higher diesel costs on to farmers through fuel surcharges.

The farm is also dealing with the wider problem of low milk prices. Jeff Ditzenberger, founder and president of the nonprofit Talking, Understanding, Growing, and Supporting (TUGS), said farmers are currently spending roughly $20 to $21 per hundredweight to produce milk, while market returns are around $16.50 per hundredweight.

The political side of the controversy became even more prominent because Swan has publicly identified herself as a conservative voter. Critics online have connected her labor problems to support for tougher immigration policies and the loss of immigrant workers in agriculture.

In a follow-up video defending her political beliefs, Swan remained defiant.

“I would never ever vote for a Democrat, liberal, socialist, communist ever in my life if this is the way I would be treated,” she said.

The creator has since made her page private, and the follow-up can now only be found in part through reactors on the platform.

Farms are facing immense financial pressure

The debate comes as the federal government has expanded legal pathways for migrant workers in the dairy industry. The Donald Trump administration announced in June that dairy farms would be allowed to use the H-2A guest-worker program, creating a new legal route for migrant labor in an industry that has long relied on immigrant workers.

For Swan, however, the immediate problem remains finding enough people willing to work on the farm while dealing with high operating costs and low milk prices. She has warned that farms facing the same financial pressure could eventually be forced to close.