Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a task force report, commissioned by President Trump on the day that Perdue took office, that makes 100 recommendations to improve rural prosperity, including universal access to high-speed internet, a smoother-functioning H-2A guestworker program and a federal initiative “to increase acceptance of biotech products and open and maintain markets for U.S. farmers abroad.”
In a statement, Perdue said, “No doubt, rural America has struggled under burdensome regulations with no voice in Washington, but under President Trump’s leadership, and with the work of this task force, we can turn that around and restore rural prosperity once and for all.”
In discussing agricultural biotechnology, the report said the government, while assuring the safety of genetically engineered foods, should expedite commercialization of new biotech products. The section on the rural workforce advocated job-training programs and a legal and reliable farm labor pool. The report says the White House is addressing complaints about the short-term H2A guestworker visa through regulatory change. “The goal of this initiative is to ensure that farmers have access to the lawful workforce that is needed,” said the report, which did not discuss immigration reform.
Nearly four in 10 rural Americans lacks high-speed internet, said the report, which says broadband “is the key to generating prosperity, investment and innovation” for rural Americans. The task force recommended that Vice President Mike Pence “develop and implement a strategy based on best practices to deploy rural e-connectivity across the nation.”
To read the rural prosperity report or to watch a video about it, click here.