Trump courts farmers' support in visit near Smithton

Rachelle Davanzo’s life growing up on her family’s South Huntingdon farm wasn’t a typical childhood.

“When normal kids went home to watch TV, I went home to milk cows,” she said.

Now a beef farm still run by her family, the bucolic rural site was the backdrop for a visit Monday by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. About 70 people at the private event on the Smith family farm cheered as Trump entered the stuffy barn a stone’s throw from Davanzo’s home.

The panel event was organized by Protecting America Initiative to draw attention to what it describes as Chinese influence on America, ranging from agriculture to higher education. If elected, Trump vowed to work on a deal with China that he initiated during his previous presidency in which China pledged to increase its purchases of U.S. exports, including $50 billion in American farm products.

A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics showed that actual purchases by China fell short of that deal through December 2021, Bloomberg reported.

“I love the farmers. I’m very comfortable with the farmers,” Trump said. “I feel I know your business. I haven’t plowed as much as you.”

Several farmers on the panel, from Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties, shared their plights with the former president. Todd Reamer of South Huntingdon said farming can be a difficult endeavor for a younger generation to continue.

“I know there are young farmers out there … but they can’t afford to do so with the high cost of the farm, the ranch and the equipment to get started,” he said.

State Rep. Eric Davanzo said before the event farmers feel left behind. It was meaningful to him that Trump decided to visit the State Hill Road farm where his wife grew up.

“We are excited to have him here,” Davanzo said.

Rachelle Davanzo’s parents, David and Kim Smith, along with her brother, Justin Smith, run the farm. The family worked for two weeks to prepare for visitors.

Getting young people into farming is important, Rachelle Davanzo said. Their daughter, Brielle, participates in a 4H club and worked with a dairy cow over the summer that she entered in the Westmoreland Fair.

“Trump stands for what we stand for,” she said, adding that those beliefs go beyond farming. “For him to be here, this is Westmoreland County. This is our area.”

Salem dairy farmer Jim Kepple, a fifth generation farmer whose son works with him, said before the event that he hopes Trump can help with inflation if he’s elected. He has seen cost increases with fuel and fertilizer.

”I think it’s important that he’s shown an interest in farming, that’s one of his priorities,” Kepple said.

During his remarks, Trump referenced the John Deere farm tractors parked behind him in the barn when vowing to put a 200% tariff on the company if it continues a plan to move manufacturing of certain machinery from Iowa to Mexico. Nearly 600 production workers at plants in Iowa and Illinois were laid off this year, according to the Associated Press.