CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Mark June Dairy Month with Industry-Wide Reform

Barn at small dairy on the French Prairie in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

Sometimes the truth stares you right in the face.

Case in point – in the middle of his agricultural roundtable event with farmers and Republican representatives held this past June 5th in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, President Trump took a moment to reflect about a different meeting he once had with another group of producers.   As the President remembered, he told the farmers, “I’m going to get you a subsidy.”  To his surprise they responded that they didn’t want subsidies, but rather, “a level playing field.”

It would be easy to gloss over the truth in Trump’s recollection, especially as he rambled on about many things unrelated to farming such as repairing monuments around Washington DC, his disdain for Democrats, and how the Southern border was closed to migrants.  This, as NFL Hall of Famer, Joe Thomas, sat to Trump’s side and drew gushing remarks from the President about the retired player’s body.

Unlike Thomas, most farmers cannot draw on millions to stay on the land.  Instead, they can turn to the government to promote fair markets.  As much could........

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