During Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) spoke about current trade deals for U.S. agriculture.
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00:00Thank you. Senator Justice.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member.
00:10I guess if I could just talk to all of you, you know, I would say to Mr. Lindbergh, to Mr. Westhill, to your families,
00:20thank you so much for being here in every way.
00:23And Governor, it's a real honor to have you because you've come a long ways
00:29and you've come a long ways in support.
00:32All of you, all of you that are sitting out here are basically wondering, well, really, what's going to happen?
00:43What's going to happen?
00:44These two individuals, I mean, it couldn't be more diverse, if you really think about it, from civil rights to trade.
00:52It's a long, long ways apart, isn't it?
00:54But really, when it really boils down to it, you are team ag today.
01:01And Coach Tuberfield, you know, is a great friend and a great coach.
01:07And I've been a coach a long time, too.
01:10And I can tell you that without any doubt, it is all about team.
01:16Now, the bottom line of the whole thing is just this and just this alone.
01:19You know, today, especially in our fields today, you know, farmers are out there, they're busting their butt,
01:28the most productive engine in all the land could ever be, and they're worried.
01:36They're worried to death because from the standpoint of our trade deals,
01:41I mean, we would all be just frivolous if we were to sit back and say,
01:45yeah, it's going pretty good, but it's not going pretty good.
01:49That's all there is to it.
01:51With absolutely with all in me, I would just tell all of us, on both sides of the aisle,
01:58all of us on now team ag, without any question, we've got to do something.
02:04You've got to do something right now.
02:06And really, if you're coming to the table and it's going to be just beating a day and the same old, same old,
02:14and absolutely able to say, you know, I'm an undersecretary or I'm a, you know, whatever it may be,
02:22and really what you have in your fingertips is just this.
02:27We're losing this battle.
02:29Well, our farmers and our ranchers are in real trouble, real trouble.
02:36You see, my family has a family farm, and we grew it to a great big farm.
02:43But with all that being said, I know what's going on.
02:48I really do know.
02:49And I can positively tell you that our farm families, our ranch families are hurting,
02:58and they're really worried because absolutely with all that in them,
03:04they see their products and they see we've got to absolutely market our products.
03:11We do have to have our commodity prices higher,
03:14or we've got to have our input costs go way, way, way down.
03:18Now, with all that being said, I've got just a couple of really quick questions.
03:24And the question that I have more than anything is just this.
03:29You know, to you, Mr. Lindbergh, you know, can you speak to what the first steps you might take
03:36to help President Trump's trade agenda to ensure that farmers and ranchers as well
03:43are not caught in the middle of the crossfire while he fights to some way, somehow, even out trade?
03:52I mean, everybody is so hung up on, you know, are the tariffs good or the tariffs bad and everything.
03:59He is trying to right America to where we are absolutely building something in America
04:07and absolutely right trade to where other countries are not taking advantage of us all the time.
04:14Please answer.
04:16Senator, thank you for the question and for our time together before this.
04:20So we spoke, and I look forward to working with you in exactly solving this problem.
04:25From my perspective, President Trump has already begun the process of righting this wrong and righting this ship.
04:32You were a coach previously.
04:35I believe you can't win the game unless you have a strategy to win the game.
04:40And the way in which I think we win this game is by inviting our farm groups in, as I mentioned to the chairman's initial question to me,
04:50and figuring out what are those markets where we're deficient?
04:54What are those opportunities where we can get more sales?
04:57What are the exact commodities and what are the dollar values we can expect if we have a game plan in place?
05:04And then it's our job to go knock those trade barriers down and get those market access opportunities.
05:10And then it's the business's responsibility, the farmers, the associations, all the groups that support our folks to get out there and win the day alongside us.
05:18And so for me, it's taking a strategic and very targeted approach, getting a game plan together, and then executing on it.
05:25And I commit to doing that with you.
05:28The only other thing I have is, Mr. Westhill, I've got a great question here and everything.
05:33You know, I'm out of time, but I can tell you just this.
05:38You know, I congratulate your son on his athletics.
05:41You know, the only thing that we have to differ with and everything is you went to the University of North Carolina,
05:46and my daughter played basketball for Clemson for a little while.
05:50So other than that, we're in great shape.
05:52And the only thing I would add is just this.
05:55Everybody here should know, and I think I'm correct about this.
05:58Years and years ago, you know, they said to our farmers, you know,
06:02what is the value in a box of cornflakes if corn were $3 a bushel?
06:10What's the value of the corn in that box?
06:13I think it was a third of a penny.
06:16You know, our farmers and ranchers need us, and they need us all right now.
06:22We shouldn't forget that.
06:23Thank you so much.