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Farm Interests Warily Approach Trump Administration

Ron Frazier
/
Flickr

The Agriculture sector is among many U.S. interest groups carefully watching and weighing the young Trump administration in Washington. Candidate Trump staked out ground on the North American Free Trade Agreement that could harm Ag producers.

Illinois Farm Bureau Vice President David Erickson Erickson farms  3,400 acres in Knox and Henry Counties near Altona.

Erickson said he cautions farm interest groups against driving a stake in the ground and saying they will not move. 

He said the IFB and the American Farm Bureau Federation hope to have a measured conversation about trade relations will bear fruit when or if NAFTA is renegotiated.

Erickson said another key thing that needs to be fixed is the visa program for migrant workers. After years of inaction on that issue, that's all the more important to resolve, Erickson said, because of the tighter border control efforts.    

GLT's Charlie Schlenker talked with Erickson about how he and the Farm Bureau see trade developing as the Trump Administration finds its feet.

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WGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker has spent more than three award-winning decades in radio. He lives in Normal with his family.