Mike Pence campaigns for US dairy votes in Wisconsin
Mike Pence visited the state — known as ‘America’s Dairyland’ — last week in order to win over voters ahead of the November presidential election.
MORE government assistance for the struggling US dairy sector has been flagged by American Vice President Mike Pence in a meeting with Wisconsin farmers.
Mike Pence visited the state — known as ‘America’s Dairyland’ — last week in order to win over voters ahead of the November presidential election.
The state is crucial in the electoral race between Republican president Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, with the 2016 race decided by only a handful of votes.
“I feel right at home,” Mr Pence said. “I’m just a small town guy from Southern Indiana. We didn’t have dairy cattle, but we had about 100 head of cattle, and it is great to be on this wonderful farm.”
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the US dairy sector hard, which is far more reliant on its domestic hospitality sector compared to Australia.
More than 800 Wisconsin dairy farms went out of business in 2019, a fact noted by Mr Biden in a teleconference with agricultural leaders in June.
Mr Pence said the Trump administration had provided $1.1 billion to dairy farms across the United States.
The recently-implemented US, Canada and Mexico trade agreement (USMCA) is a key platform for the Trump-Pence campaign to keep wavering farmers on side after a rocky period of trade with the near northern neighbour of Canada.
Mr Pence said the end of Canada’s class six and seven milk pricing system had aided Wisconsin dairy farmers. The program subsidized certain dairy products, making them more appealing than American dairy.
“We levelled the playing field for American dairy,” he said.
“Because of the USMCA, we predict within six years, the United States is actually going to increase our exports by 50,000 metric tons of milk, 12,000 metric tons of cheese, 10,000 metric tons of cream, and the list goes on.”
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