Breaking a quarter-century gap, President Trump will be the first U.S. chief executive since George H.W. Bush to address the annual convention of the nation’s largest farm organization, the American Farm Bureau Federation. Farmers and ranchers voted by landslide margins for Trump in 2016, attracted by his platform of regulatory reform, tax relief, and support for ethanol — and hoping to change his mind about tearing up trade agreements.
“Farmers and ranchers and our rural communities are the bedrock of our nation. President Trump knows that, and his willingness to devote his time to talk directly with Farm Bureau members will be a memorable occasion,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the AFBF. The group said it was working with the White House to determine the specific day for Trump’s speech; it will be either Sunday, Jan. 7, or Monday, Jan. 8, in Nashville. The convention often attracts 5,000 or more attendees.
Trump will address the AFBF as Congress faces both a deadline to write a new farm bill, nominally due by Sept. 30, and midterm elections, in November. Farm income fell sharply after 2013, when a commodity boom collapsed, then stabilized this year at half or three-fourths of 2103’s record high, depending on the gauge used for measuring it.
Bush spoke twice at AFBF conventions, in 1990 in Orlando, Fla., and in 1992 in Kansas City.
To watch a C-SPAN video of the 1990 speech, click here.
To watch a C-SPAN video of the 1992 speech, click here.