Biden kicks off rural America tour in Minnesota

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said consolidation in meat processing and retail chains over the decades has hurt US farmers and announced $5 billion in new investments benefiting rural Americans during a visit to a family farm in Minnesota, reported Reuters.

The trip, the first stop in what the White House is billing as a two-week "barnstorming" tour, will also see 13 top administration officials visit rural places in 15 states, including election battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona. They will highlight investments in rural communities, where one in five Americans live.

"When rural America does well, when Indian country does well, we all do well," Biden said during a visit to Dutch Creek Farms, a hog, soybean and corn farm now being run by a third generation of the Kluver family.

Biden said just four big companies control "more than half the market in beef, pork and poultry," and when one of these companies shut, it causes large supply chain disruptions and hurts farmers.

"Because of these investments we're making, family farms are going to stay in the family," Biden said, highlighting his efforts to improve market competition and invest in internet and rural electrification.

The Minnesota event also allowed top Democratic officials from the state to show their support for Biden just days after Minnesota lawmaker Dean Phillips launched a primary challenge to a sitting president, sources familiar with the plans said.

Biden will participate in a fundraiser in Minneapolis after the farm visit.

A Biden campaign official noted that Democrats improved their margins in rural areas in 2022 compared to 2020, winning over former supporters of former President Donald Trump.