(Radio Iowa) – Vice President Mike Pence is on a campaign swing in Iowa today (Thursday), starting at a rally on the state fairgrounds to launch the “Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition. Pence addressed the widespread devastation from Monday’s derecho during his speech. “I must tell you when I heard about this storm, as a lifelong Hoosier, I was taken aback to hear of the magnitude of this storm and its impact,” Pence said.

Farmer Rod Pierce speaks to VP Pence and Governor.

Pence, the former governor of Indiana, did not talk about what specific federal relief may be headed Iowa’s way, but made a general pledge. “On behalf of the President of the United States and our administration I want Iowans to know we are with you. We are going to stay with you and we will work with your governor and your senators to make sure that we bring Iowa all the way back, bigger and stronger than ever before,” Pence said, to cheers. “I promise.”

Pence met privately on the fairgrounds with half a dozen Iowans whose farms were hit by Monday’s derecho. Rod Pierce of Woodward was among the group. “We had 131 mile an hour winds. We probably lost 12-15 of our bigger grain bins. We’ve got probably 2500 acres of corn flat.” Pierce says enhanced crop insurance benefits for farmers would be helpful, along with expanded trade and ethanol production.

“We need a price down in the future here, too, not just this year,” Pearce says. Iowa Democratic Party officials, including former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, criticized Pence for not altering his campaign schedule to personally survey the damage from Monday’s storm. Pence is attending a pro-police rally in Urbandale and will be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa this (Thursday) evening.