Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., followed by his wife Cindy, eats a pork chop on a stick as he tours the Iowa State Fair on Friday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Des Moines, Iowa ? Republican presidential candidate John McCain didn’t mince words Friday at the Iowa State Fair, telling corn producers he didn’t want to subsidize their ethanol but was eager to help market farm products around the world.

“My friends, we will disagree on a specific issue and that’s healthy,” McCain said as he stood near bales of straw at one of the nation’s premier farming showcases. “I believe in renewable fuels. I don’t believe in ethanol subsidies, but I believe in renewable fuels.”

McCain has never been shy about speaking against subsidizing ethanol when he is in farm country, though that stand helped to make him unpopular enough in Iowa that he skipped participating in its leadoff presidential caucuses in 2000 and put much less emphasis on them in 2008 than many of his opponents.

In a brief speech at the fairgrounds – where he viewed a 1,253-pound boar named Freight Train and looked for pork chop on a stick, a fair delicacy – McCain pledged to negotiate trade deals favorable to farm commodities.

“My mission and my job as president of the United States will be to make sure every market in the world is open to your products,” he said.

McCain met with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey during his fairgrounds tour and promoted expanded pork exports as a boon to the nation’s leading hog-producing state. He said a free-trade deal with South Korea could boost profits by $10 a hog.

“Agriculture products here in the state of Iowa can feed the world, and we’re not afraid to compete with anybody,” he said.

McCain said his visit gave him a chance to “meet and greet the real America.”

“This is the heartland of America, this is what America is all about, this is the people I want to know and meet,” he said.

Democrats in the state said McCain’s opposition to ethanol subsidies and the $300 billion farm bill would make it difficult for the Republican to win Iowa’s seven electoral votes and would hurt him throughout the Midwest. McCain called the bipartisan farm bill “bloated” and an example of the kind of spending measure he would veto as president.

“He voted against ethanol subsidies, he’s opposed to the farm bill,” Iowa Democratic Chairman Scott Brennan said. “What it proves is he doesn’t care about what’s important to Iowa.”

On energy policy, McCain reiterated his disagreements with Democratic candidate Barack Obama. McCain favors immediately lifting a ban on offshore drilling while Obama opposes more drilling unless it’s part of a larger package of energy proposals.

“America is hurting right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” McCain said.

While campaigning Thursday in Ohio, McCain called for a federal investigation into plans by the shipping company DHL to close a hub in Wilmington, Ohio, at the cost of up to 10,000 jobs. McCain’s campaign manager helped to complete a DHL deal with United Parcel Service in 2003 that’s linked to those plans.

Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Friday he would conduct a hearing on the UPS-DHL alliance as requested by the Ohio congressional delegation.

“Just as I have opposed additional consolidation in air passenger service, I have serious concerns about the UPS-DHL alliance. My concerns include the transaction’s effects on service, costs, consumer choice, and jobs,” Oberstar said. “This alliance is likely to eliminate two cargo air carriers, ABX and ASTAR, which now serve DHL and compete with UPS. This would lessen, or even eliminate, competition between UPS and DHL in providing overnight package delivery services.”