Agricultural event speakers pepper comments with politics
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 30, 2016 9:57 AM
Full SizeMore photos for this story are available in the
Full Size
News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Gov. Pat McCrory, left, laughs as state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler speaks to him at Thursday night's agricultural rally.
KENANSVILLE -- It was billed as an agricultural event, but more times than not it resembled a Republican rally as speakers at the Thursday night gathering at the Duplin Events Center liberally flavored their comments with political rhetoric.
They called for the approximately 1,000 people in attendance to return the state's Republican leadership to office and to give the GOP control of the White House as well.
"I need for you stand up this election and stand up for your work ethics, stand up for your values," Gov. Pat McCrory said. "Stand up for your independence because if you don't get out and vote, we lose all of those work ethics, independence and basic values that make agriculture so great in North Carolina."
McCrory said his challenge was for audience members to register to vote.
"If any of you go to that voting booth with only one of you with you, we will lose this election," he said. "We are going to lose America. We are going to lose North Carolina. I need you to do what the far left does -- to have each of you take 10 or 20 people to the polls with you."
State Agriculture Steve Troxler told the audience that the state's agriculture industry has grown every year, even during the "Great Recession."
"What I want you to understand is that we are not through (growing)," Troxler said. "I have a goal to be able to grow this industry to $100 billion by the year 2020."
Troxler said he is excited about the governor's food manufacturing task force, of which he is a member.
The goal is to bring more food manufacturing into the state, he said.
"We are the No. 1 sweet-potato producing state in the nation by a long shot," Troxler said. "You know how many sweet potato canneries we have in North Carolina? None. Now to me, my common sense tells me if you are going to can sweet potatoes, why don't you put the cannery right next to the pile of sweet potatoes?
"Look what we are missing by not having that manufacturing right here in the state. There is no more exciting time to be in agriculture. We are going to continue to seek out these markets worldwide. The market is out there."
Troxler said he hoped voters would support the team before them in the election.
"There are many reasons that we are a free nation," state Rep. Jimmy Dixon said. But perhaps all of the reasons together may not be as important as the country being able to feed itself, he said.
"There are many farm families here tonight," Dixon said. "These farm families have a wonderful heritage established by decades -- yes, by centuries of dedicated farming. All of us have benefited from the hard work and innovation of some truly pioneer agricultural leaders who understood, as Abraham Lincoln did, that it is both a profit and a pleasure to produce two where there was but one."
Dixon read a list of names of those pioneer leaders.
"Their children and grandchildren are here tonight and are ready to advance the great work of our forefathers. This event has been organized as an agricultural rally for us to speak with a united voice. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, farmers no longer cast the most votes. But farmers still feed everyone who does."
"You know, when I think of the word agriculture I think of the second word that no one really pays attention to and that word is culture," McCrory said. "The culture of the farming community is second to no culture in the United States of America.
Farmers want to be left alone so they can do their job, he said to cheers and a round of applause.
"That is what we are trying to do in this administration," he said. "Let me tell you one of the great challenges we have right now. We have a guy in Washington, D.C., in the White House who doesn't want to leave you alone."
Farmers, he said, are under attack from the federal government.
"Our teammates here are joining us to fight the federal government's overreach," he said. "They (federal government) are trying to interfere with your independence.
"The third thing I want to say is that when I think of farmers, I think of the word entrepreneur. I read about all of these Wall Street geniuses in New York and in San Francisco, even in Charlotte. But people who are really business geniuses are farmers. I am telling you your track record is a heck of a lot better than the track record of Wall Street."
McCrory said farmers are some of the smartest business people around. Yet, people in the rest of the country do not think of farmers as being entrepreneurial, he said.
"I know you are the most entrepreneurial people around," he said. "The last thing I want to talk about when you think of the word culture in agriculture is this, values -- values which first include work ethic."