Farmers who depend on a stable supply of foreign-born and often undocumented laborers plan to continue the long-fought battle for immigration reform.

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Kristi Boswell, there was a lot of heated rhetoric over illegal immigrants during the presidential campaign, much of it coming from Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean farmers should give up trying to persuade Congress to allow farmers to keep their labor force.

**Farmers and ranchers are eagerly waiting to see who will lead USDA, EPA and other critical agencies, but it could be a while before those names are ready. Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been put in charge of overseeing agriculture policy and will likely have a say on Trump's selection as agriculture secretary.

House Ag Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas says his sense is that Trump has turned Ag toward Pence and says, ‘You know more about Ag than I do. Run that program.'

He tells Agri-Pulse so far, he’s heard no names of who might be in the running.

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