America’s farmers have faced many difficulties over the past several decades.
Misaligned trade deals, troubling weather patterns, and an onslaught of attacks from anti-agriculture activists have all contributed to an unfortunately high number of struggling family farms representative of the entire agriculture industry.
While these issues persist, it has become increasingly clear that America’s farmers are facing a new threat: the progressive left of American politics.
From far-left Hollywood elites to out-of-touch liberal billionaires, today’s Democrat Party is pushing an anti-agriculture agenda that would spell doom for thousands of family farmers and the rural communities in which they live.
During his acceptance speech for Best Actor at the 92nd Academy Awards, Joaquin Phoenix went on a non-sensical rant filled with lies about America’s dairy industry.
Standing on a national stage in front of a captured American audience, Phoenix blamed an “ego-centric world view” for a culture where one species can “exploit another with impunity.”
“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable,” Phoenix said. “And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”
Phoenix’s comments would be laughable if they were not so offensive. America’s dairy farmers are overall hardworking, integral parts of rural communities and our nation’s fabric. I have visited the many dairy farms in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District and am consistently impressed with the care they provide for their animals and the pride they have in producing nutritious dairy products for Americans and people around the world.
Dairy products are also important to our overall economic health. In Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District alone, the dairy industry supports 8,181 jobs and contributes a total economic impact of $1.6 billion.
Phoenix’s comments perpetuate a dangerous myth about the way dairy farmers treat their animals. Cows are literally the livelihood of dairy farmers. Mistreatment of their animals runs counter to the very nature of the dairy business model.
America’s dairy farmers are struggling. The mislabeling of products like soy drink and other nut beverages as milk, low milk prices, and adverse market conditions are forcing many generational farms to downsize or close altogether. In the face of these existential challenges, dairy farmers do not need hyped-up, false rhetoric from a Hollywood elitist who has likely never even been to a dairy farm.
Then, on Sunday, video surfaced from a 2016 conference during which former New York City Mayor and 2020 Democrat presidential contender Michael Bloomberg questioned farmers’ intelligence.
“I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer,” Bloomberg said. “It’s a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. You could learn that.”
Bloomberg added that those in the tech industry are more intelligent than farmers.
“You have to have a different skill set, you have to have a lot more gray matter,” he said.
Bloomberg’s comments are nothing short of ignorant and small-minded.
Not only is the modern-day agriculture industry highly reliant on technology that is often developed and maintained by farmers, but Bloomberg’s comments do not account for the immense work it takes to successfully farm. Farmers need to be agronomists, meteorologists, accountants, brokers, carpenters, salespersons, and veterinarians.
I know the struggles farmers face. My stepfather was a farmer. I often helped him work the land. From dawn until dusk, seven days a week, farming is a full-time job that requires more skills than most people would ever think necessary.
Executing the complex nature of soil management, business management, mechanical engineering, and animal husbandry are just a small part of what a farmer does on any given day. It’s not just about putting a seed in the ground as Bloomberg would lead you to believe. Farming is about running a complex business, often in the face of steep competition and a nation that under appreciates the work of those who feed them.
The truth is, farmers can live without Joaquin Phoenix or Michael Bloomberg, but neither could survive without America’s farmers.
Thankfully, President Donald J. Trump and United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue understand the importance of American agriculture. By working to realign trade deals to put America first, President Trump and his Administration have put struggling farmers to the top of our nation’s priority list. In Pennsylvania alone, 17,000 agriculture jobs will benefit as a result of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and better trade deals with countries like Japan and China.
America’s farmers deserve nothing less than our thanks and our admiration for putting food on our tables.
They do not need attacks from those who are dependent on their work but know nothing about what goes into it.
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