General Carbide Corp
General Carbide Corp. CEO Mona Pappafava-Rayn said to help her family company continue to grow in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, they began looking into making farming equipment. But over and over again they were told that while their products and prices were good, parts could be purchased in China much cheaper.
“That’s why you need tariffs,” Trump interjected.
Farmers from Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties shared personal stories with Trump.
Beth (Bethann) Leeper, a small business owner from Westmoreland County, said rising costs from feed to utilities are hurting her husband’s family farm, plus this summer’s weather hasn’t helped.
Matt Carr, a third-generation Westmoreland County dairy farmer, said that since 1992, the number of dairy farms in the United States had dropped from 130,000 to fewer than 26,000.
Trump asked him, “What’s the difference in production?”
Carr replied that total production is up as dairy farms get bigger.
“But we are losing the small family farm,” Carr said.
“I know that, yes,” Trump responded. Darrel Becker, the farm bureau president in Fayette County, said changing government regulations make it even harder for farmers and he complained about Chinese companies buying American cropland.
“Help us make American agriculture great again,” Becker said.
For Rachelle Davanzo, whose parents, Dave and Kim Smith hosted the event Monday on their 300-acre farm, supporting Trump and the initiative to protect and support agriculture was an easy decision for her and her husband, state Rep. Eric Davanzo, R-Smithton. Rachelle Davanzo’s parents, along with her brother, Justin Smith, run the farm.
“I grew up on this farm and I know the value of farmers and how hard they work,” Davanzo said. “His (Trump’s) values align with our family values and what we believe in.”
Rep. Davanzo said he believes many farmers feel left behind and added that it meant a lot to him for Trump to visit the farm where his wife grew up.
“We are excited to have him here,” Eric Davanzo said.
The event was also a platform for Trump to stump for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who is campaigning to unseat Sen. Bob Casey, the Democrat from Scranton.
“Bob Casey has done nothing for farmers — he has not been there. He’s 100% with the Biden vote,” Trump said.
Other roundtable participants included farmers Kevin Sweeney of Washington County, Nick Staffieri of Dawson, Fayette County, and Todd Reamer of Westmoreland County, U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-15th District, and state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield Township, president pro-tempore.
Security was tight at the Smith farm, as state police performed traffic control on the narrow, winding State Hill Road. Federal agents searched every vehicle inside and out — in person and with dogs — prior to allowing them to pull up into a hayfield and park near the venue, a large equipment barn. State police also had mounted units on a hill overlooking the property.
At the end of the discussion, Trump took a few questions from reporters. When asked if he was concerned that tariffs on manufacturers like John Deere would increase costs for farmers, he said of Harris, “She is not going to be good for Pennsylvania.”
After leaving Smithton about 4:30 p.m., Trump traveled to Indiana University of Pennsylvania for a rally last night. Westmoreland County supported Trump in 2020 with 63% of its vote, giving 35% to President Joe Biden.
Harris is scheduled to deliver a speech in Pittsburgh Wednesday.
Stacy Wolford is managing editor of the Mon Valley Independent.