rural America
First rise in farmland values in Midwest in three years
Agricultural bankers reported a 1 percent rise in “good” farmland values in 2017 in a survey by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, which said the productivity of midwestern farmland had helped stabilize prices. It was the first increase in values since 2014.
Big farms get bigger as U.S. farm numbers get smaller
U.S. farm numbers continue to drift lower, dropping to 2.048 million according to a USDA survey conducted last June, only a shadow of their peak during the Depression. At the same time that the total falls, the portion of land operated by the biggest farms, the powerhouses with more than $1 million a year in sales, continues to grow, now covering a quarter of all farmland.
U.S. farm income ‘flattening’ at pre-boom level
During the seven-year commodity boom that ended in 2013, U.S. farm income soared to record highs. Then commodity prices collapsed, and farm income plunged 50 percent in three years. It now appears to be bottoming out at rates seen a decade ago.
Trump taps Missouri co-op official to run USDA rural utilities agency
The president of a rural electric cooperative in central Missouri is President Trump’s choice to head the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. The agency oversees programs that range from water and sewer facilities to electrical lines and telecommunications.
Trump wants $1.5 trillion for infrastructure; one-fourth for rural projects
After declaring “America is a nation of builders,” President Trump asked Congress to write a bill that would fund $1.5 trillion in “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land” — much of it financed by state, local, and private-sector money. A quarter of the federal funds would be earmarked for rural projects.
Consolidation may be factor in low rural wages
As farms got bigger over the years, so did the equipment that farms use to cover the land. Farm equipment dealerships also got bigger, buying or pushing out competitors, and that may explain the problem of stagnant wages in rural areas: When there are fewer employers, wages show less growth, reports the New York Times.
Farm bill reform would end ‘dishonest’ subsidies, says midwestern senator
On the same day that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a 42-point list of farm bill principles, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said the 2018 bill should end the “dishonest” practice of crop subsidy payments to non-farmers.
Perdue’s farm bill principles: Strong on crop insurance, link work with food assistance
The 2018 farm bill, while helping “those truly in need” to get enough food, should “support work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Universal rural broadband is a daunting challenge
The Trump administration’s rural prosperity report visualizes broadband as a lever for economic growth, but experts tell Harvest Public Media that “the devil is in the details — or lack thereof.”
Rural projects would get 25 percent of Trump infrastructure funding
A quarter of all the funding in President Trump's forthcoming infrastructure plan would be earmarked for rural America, according to a draft document leaked to Axios. Projects could range from broadband and highways to the electric grid and water lines.
FCC chair proposes $500 million for rural broadband
Declaring that closing the digital divide is the FCC’s top priority, chairman Ajit Pai proposed an agency order to put $500 million in funding toward high-speed internet in rural America, said ZDNet.
Rural internet to be high priority for Trump administration
President Trump will express support during a speech to the largest U.S. farm group today for a dramatic expansion of high-speed internet service in rural America. The strategy will be a springboard for economic growth for a segment of the population dogged by lower wages and higher poverty rates than the rest of the nation, said a White House adviser. The president also is expected to call for greater use of federal forests and fewer hurdles to agricultural biotechnology, two areas that may be lightning rods for controversy.
Ag trade is vital, says Farm Bureau leader a day before Trump speech
Farmers are among President Trump's staunchest supporters, and they have a response to his threats to scrap NAFTA and rewrite other trade agreements: "Without those global markets, our already-depressed farm economy would go down even more," said Zippy Duvall, leader of the largest U.S. farm group. "Trade should not be a dirty word," Duvall told the estimated 7,000 attendees at American Farm Bureau Federation convention, where Trump is scheduled to speak this afternoon.
U.S. farm groups launch ‘Farm Town Strong’ to battle opioid crisis
The two largest U.S. farm groups, with millions of members, have launched the “Farm Town Strong” campaign to raise awareness of opioid abuse and how to get treatment.
Most ‘hard-to-count’ counties in U.S. census are in rural areas
The bulk of “hard-to-count” counties for the upcoming 2020 census — 251 out of the total of 316 counties that qualify — are in rural America, according to a briefing paper from the Carsey School of Public Policy in New Hampshire.
Coalition would use TV ‘white spaces’ to bring broadband to rural America
Software giant Microsoft is part of the Connect Americans Now coalition, which has “a plan to eliminate the digital divide by 2022” by persuading the FCC and other regulators to set aside low-band spectrum across the country to provide a broadband connection for everyone.
Farmers more optimistic than a year ago
A post-harvest survey of growers found they were more optimistic at the end of 2017 than they were during the post-election “Trump Bump” of a year earlier, said DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Biofuels groups turn thumbs down on Cruz control for RINs
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz proposed a fixed-price ethanol credit that EPA would sell at 10 cents a piece, and that refiners could use to satisfy the Renewable Fuel Standard. Biofuel makers and farm groups responded with a letter to President Trump that said there are ways to handle problems with the credits, called RINs, "without undercutting the RFS and rural America," reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.