US Democratic candidate Joe Biden meets with Wisconsin dairy farmers

The Democrat challenger to the Republican president met with Wisconsin farm leaders via teleconference to discuss the economic woes of the rural state — known as “America’s Dairyland.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about reopening the country during a speech in Darby, Pennsylvania, on June 17, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP)

AMERICA’S dairy industry crisis has leaped into the US presidential election campaign with Joe Biden claiming Donald Trump’s trade policy had lead to a farmer exodus.

The Democrat challenger to the Republican president met with Wisconsin farm leaders via teleconference to discuss the economic woes of the rural state — known as “America’s Dairyland.”

Wisconsin is a crucial state in the Trump versus Biden contest with the usually Democrat state switching to the Democrats at the 2016 presidential election for the first time since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Mr Biden noted Wisconsin lost 10 per cent of its dairy farmers last year — the largest drop since records began.

“More than 800 dairy farms across the state went out of business (last year),” Mr Biden said. “And according to the American Farm Bureau, Wisconsin now leads the nation in farm bankruptcies, and you all know the ripple effect that has with farm closures. It has a ripple effect not just on the farmers and their families, but on the entire community.

“Let alone more than 800 of these. Look, each one is a tragedy, and so much of that devastation is directly attributable to I think the disastrous trade war the President got us into. “It didn’t just hit farmers. It also raised the price of food, beer, clothing, appliances for every consumer, and how many families could use that money right now? How many farmers would be in a better spot if their profits hadn’t vanished? Because Trump goaded our trade partners into placing brutal tariffs on American cheese.”

Wisconsin Farmers Union president Darren Von Ruden spoke with Mr Biden in the teleconference.

“I think it was about a year ago, the President said dairy farmers are over the hump,” the Lacrosse dairy farmer said.

“We’re still losing over two dairy farms a day in the state of Wisconsin. So being over the hump really isn’t here yet. And will we see it? I don’t know. The coronavirus has had a detrimental impact on the dairy industry. Our pay prices went from the high teens, $17, $18 per hundred weight down to, most farmers in May are receiving $10 to $11. The average cost reduction is in that $17.50 cent range for milk.”