Wi Farmers Wont Bvote for Trump Again
Mitch Breunig walks around his dairy farm, Mystic Valley Dairy, on Friday, July 24, 2020, nearly Sauk Urban center.Angela Major/WPR
Equally Presidential Candidates Make Their Pitch To America's Dairyland, Farmers Divided On Whether Trump Has Helped Ag
While Some Farmers Withal Back Trump, Democrats Are Hoping To Capitalize On Frustration Over Trade
While Some Farmers Still Dorsum Trump, Democrats Are Hoping To Capitalize On Frustration Over Merchandise
On a dairy subcontract just north of La Crosse before this month, Vice President Mike Pence sat downwards with local farmers and state legislators. He was there to make his case for how the Trump administration has helped farmers.
Equally a sign of their success, Pence pointed to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade pact which officially replaced NAFTA at the beginning of July.
"USMCA is a win for American workers, it'due south a win for American farmers, and information technology's a win for American dairy and it's just one more example of how President Donald Trump puts America outset and always will," Pence said.
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at Morn Star Dairy on Fri, July 17, 2020, in Onalaska, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Rural communities, especially in western Wisconsin, helped President Donald Trump win the land and ultimately the presidency in 2016. And heading into this year'south election, the Trump entrada is hoping to secure their votes once more.
The pitch works for some dairy farmers in the state.
Amy Penterman owns Dutch Dairy in Thorp and is president-elect of the Dairy Business organization Association board of directors. She won't say who she's voting for, but she feels like Trump has worked for farmers during his time in office.
"Nosotros really appreciate the fact that he's working to get trade deals done in other countries that are fair and really focusing on those deals to go them done. We just actually want him to continue to focus on more trade deals," Penterman said.
She said her family worries about the future of farming. So having a candidate who understands who dairy farmers are and the issues they face is the about important affair to her.
Amy Penterman owns Dutch Dairy in Thorp and sits on the board of the Dairy Business Clan. Photo courtesy of Amy Penterman
"You're going to know by what they're talking about, not just a general 'Nosotros need trade' but really to the centre of information technology, what is affecting farmer A that we can heed to and find solutions for," Penterman said.
But Trump's trade policy has turned off other dairy farmers, who question whether the president has injure agricultural exports more than he'southward helped them. Peculiarly after retaliatory tariffs traded with countries like Prc and United mexican states largely targeted U.S. farm goods.
Mitch Breunig, owner of Mystic Valley Dairy in Sauk City, said he's most worried near America's trade relationship with Mexico, which is the biggest importer of U.S. dairy products.
"One of the things nigh trade or even simply doing business with people: you usually practice information technology with people you like," Breunig said. "When nosotros do these hard-line negative negotiations, it's just hard to become back and say, 'Yes, we're going to practice business organisation with you because nosotros like to practice business with you.' Those relationships are built over fourth dimension and if you wreck them, it's not like they're going to be better tomorrow once again."
Breunig said he voted for Trump in 2016, just he'southward however undecided this year.
While he thinks renegotiating trade deals with countries similar China will pay off somewhen, Breunig feels like the Trump administration isn't aware of the economic situation that farmers are facing.
"When I hear the 'Farmers are doing really, really well and nosotros all need to buy big tractors because we're doing so well,' information technology really turns me off because they don't really sympathize my business. They don't understand it at all," said Mitch Breunig, possessor of Mystic Valley Dairy in Sauk City.
He points to a comment made past Trump during a entrada rally last October, saying farmers would have to purchase bigger tractors to meet the new demand from an initial trade bargain with China.
"When I hear the 'Farmers are doing actually, actually well and we all need to purchase big tractors because we're doing so well,' information technology really turns me off because they don't really sympathise my business organisation. They don't empathise it at all," Breunig said.
That frustration is what Democrats are hoping to capitalize on as they make a play for the ag community, a grouping that's considered a cadre constituency for Republicans.
Before this twelvemonth, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called a special legislative session focused on helping struggling dairy farmers. And during a virtual campaign effect this summer, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden linked the high number of farm bankruptcies in Wisconsin to the Trump administration'southward trade strategy.
"Each 1 is a tragedy and so much of that devastation is directly owing to, I remember, the disastrous merchandise war the president got the states into," Biden said. "How many families could use that money right now? How many farmers would be in a better spot if their profits hadn't vanished considering Trump goaded our trade partners into placing brutal tariffs on American cheese?"
But Breunig said disappointment in Trump won't be enough to get farmers to show up to the polls for Biden.
Mitch Breunig, possessor of Mystic Valley Dairy near Sauk City, surveys his dairy cows on Friday, July 24, 2020. Angela Major/WPR
He said the former vice president hasn't spoken enough on the issues that are important to dairy producers. Especially since much of the programming for the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for this summer in Milwaukee, has been moved online because of the coronavirus.
"I think if nosotros were going to have a national convention and all of that stuff, I think we would have maybe gotten some of those answers. And they're probably nonetheless coming, only every day is a day closer to November," Breunig said.
And in a yr when COVID-19 has largely captured the public's attention, questions remain about whether Wisconsin dairy farmers volition hear Democrats' message.
Anthony Chergosky, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said that given the express time left before the ballot, the easiest path for Democrats to win Wisconsin is not through rural communities, just continuing to win over suburban areas.
"How much practice they focus their pitch on these affluent, educated suburbs where they've seen real growth potential versus how much do they focus on rural communities and agriculture communities where Trump and the Republicans take really solidified standing?" Chergosky said.
Mystic Valley Dairy near Sauk Metropolis is endemic past Mitch Breunig. Angela Major/WPR
But he said it could be a mistake for Democrats to ignore rural Wisconsin.
The split between urban and rural communities that defined the 2016 election is still a major influence in Wisconsin politics, Chergosky said. He worries that could become worse if Biden and the Democrats don't pay attending to farmers and other rural residents during this year'south election.
"They might make up one's mind that there's just not much left over for rural Wisconsin. And that would deepen the divide even more," Chergosky said. "We take one of the virtually divided states in the country politically and the urban-rural split is a driving cistron behind those intense divisions in the state. It does keep me up at night."
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2022, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin Arrangement and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
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Source: https://www.wpr.org/presidential-candidates-make-their-pitch-americas-dairyland-farmers-divided-whether-trump-has-helped
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