Posted on 08/17/2019 1:38:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Beneath a blazing mid-August sun at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines last week, liberal voters crowded around the Des Moines Register’s political soapbox to hear the Democratic presidential candidates speak. Meanwhile, on the other side of the fairground, farmers in the sheep, cattle and swine barns tended to their animals. A Trump poster hung from a rafter in the sheep barn and a Trump flag flew in front of a row of massive black cows in the cattle barn.
Yet the farmers—who will play a key role in the 2020 presidential race in Iowa—didn’t talk much about politics until I asked them, and even then, some were reticent. Despite escalating tensions with China in a trade war that directly affects United States agriculture, the farmers I spoke to said they were unconcerned that China may cut off US imports and confident that President Donald Trump has their best interests in mind.
Trump won this battleground state with 51 percent of the vote in 2016, and support for him is stronger among rural voters than urban ones. The population in Iowa is almost 36 percent rural, according to the state’s web site, and approximately 63 percent of rural residents voted for Trump in 2016, a CNN exit poll says. Meanwhile, Trump won about 62 percent of the rural vote nationwide, according to a New York Times estimate.
(Excerpt) Read more at motherjones.com ...
Mother Jonesy is deeply saddened.
First, farmers are well accustomed to “playing the long game”...it’s what they do every year, knowing that many factors beyond their control can and will affect their profitability. We’ve gone through 30+ years of shakeout and those who are left in agribusiness are those who are smart and understand risk and uncertainty, and have the ability to survive it.
Secondly, they know something most people tend to forget: China needs our agricultural products more than we need anything from them. New iPhones are nice but you can’t eat them. Pork, wheat (for noodles), and soy are mainstays of the Asian diet and there’s a finite production capacity in the world - you can’t just start planting soybeans in a desert or rainforest.
They also understand this is a fight to preserve what the USA stands for, and a fight to protect the independent future of their kids and grandkids. There will be hardships but we will prevail.
Miss Abigail's article is inaccurate and incomplete.
First; it is Red China's Trade War. They have been conducting it for decades. President Trump is the first president to respond to their constant attacks on our economy. And President Trump only escalated the United States' actions when Red China refused to negotiate a reasonable trade agreement.
Second; President Trump has used the powers at his legitimate command to protect our industries, including agriculture, from Red China's unfair trade practices. Wide sections of the U.S. agriculture industry are eligible for compensation of lost revenue due to Red China's Trade War.
So it should be no surprise when those who produce, which includes farmers and ranchers, support a president who puts America first and protects its producers & citizens.
Either Miss Abigail knows and has failed to report this, which makes her a liar. Or she has failed to do basic research expected of a reporter.
Oh. My mistake. Miss Abigail is a journalist and need not be truthful or competent. She merely needs an agenda, which her rag provides.
Silly me.
Amen! Salt of the earth, farmers are.
When the economy is bad, people still have to eat.
Don’t the know they’re not supposed to do that?
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