U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Perdue Visits Coventry Farmers

COVENTRY, RI — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue met with Rhode Island farmers at a cranberry bog. The bog is run by Greene Company, a supplier to Ocean Spray operating in the rural western part of Coventry.

According to Perdue, the purpose of the visit was to open a dialogue with farmers anxious over President Donald Trump's trade policy. The Providence Journal reported Perdue made the visit as part of an effort to speak with farmers in every state.

Perdue said Trump's trade policies could lead to new trade agreements with smaller countries. He said those trade agreements could be beneficial to farmers in the long term.

“Farmers are just tough and will really take things that are not in their near-term best economic interest, looking forward to a better day,” Perdue said to the Providence Journal

No one at the meeting including various state agriculture officials said they could remember a U.S. agriculture secretary ever visiting Rhode Island.

Photo credit Alex Wong/ Staff via Getty Images