President Trump’s address to the American Farm Bureau Federation 99th annual convention this week in Nashville definitely brought agriculture some positive publicity, mentioning the word farmers over 25 times in his speech, more than any of the previous three presidents in all of their official speeches combined. Granted, that is just a guess but I feel safe in saying that if someone were to be able to fact-check it!
Farm Bureau estimates 7400 watched the president’s speech in person or on the Livestream, and thousands more have watched it since. Among those watching from home was former AFBF president Bob Stallman, who said it was the first convention he has missed in 30 years. The speech was also carried live by RFD-TV, Fox News and CBS. Agri-Pulse and RFD-TV were both granted interviews with the president. It was definitely a very big deal.
President Trump’s commitment to rural America with the signing of two presidential orders that will help increase broadband access out in the countryside, something that his Rural Prosperity Task Force made a high priority, was also a very big deal to many of the thousands at the event. Jamie interviewed a number of attendees to get their reactions, including FFA and 4H members, state Farm Bureau presidents, the Missouri Director of Agriculture and Mrs. Zippy Duvall. Listen to some of the comments here: Reaction to President Trump at #AFBF18