rural development
Tribes form coalition to get a voice in 2018 farm bill
Some 30 tribes are members of the newly formed Native Farm Bill Coalition, whose goal is influencing the 2018 farm bill, particularly on rural economic development issues, says Minnesota Public Radio.
Climate and culture change threaten New Mexico’s ancient irrigation canals
For hundreds of years, a network of earthen canals that ribbon through New Mexico have been central to a thriving small-farm scene and a communal way of life. But those canals, called acequias, and the way of life they support, are being pushed to the brink by a changing climate, a development boom, and the imperatives of the modern economy, says Alexis Adams in FERN's latest story, published with The Weather Channel. (No paywall)
Drug-abuse deaths contribute to shrinking rural population
Rural mortality rates are up, spurred by drug abuse, and it's dragging down the rural population and draining rural America of its workforce, according to a USDA report that listed grim conditions in a portion of the country perennially coping with lower wages and higher poverty rates than in cities. "Long-term population loss continued in counties dependent on agriculture, in the Great Plains, Midwest and southern Coastal Plains," said the annual "Rural America at a Glance."
A road bump, maybe a roadblock, for USDA reorganization
Some of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's sweeping changes to USDA's organizational chart will need a congressional green light, the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee said in a letter asserting the Senate's advise-and-consent role in federal appointments. The committee leaders said Perdue cannot change the duties of his senior policymakers until Congress passes a law that codifies their new titles and responsibilities.
Rural job growth is one-tenth of big-city total
The largest U.S. urban areas, with populations of 1 million or more, enjoyed a 2-percent expansion in the number of jobs since last June, while in rural counties "job growth was a bit more than a tenth of that rate, or 0.29 percent, or about 60,000 jobs," reports the Daily Yonder. In the 924 counties that are not adjacent to any metropolitan area, the number of jobs declined by just over 1,000.
Internet is familiar tool for farmers, but not quite as common as in town
Farmers, especially big operators, may be slightly more wired into the internet than rural Americans overall, and the urban-rural digital divide is narrowing, says a USDA report that provides a comparison with other measurements of the United States online. Based on a biennial survey of farmers, the USDA said 71 percent of U.S. farms have internet access.
Worst broadband in the country? Try southwestern Colorado.
Thinly populated Saguache County in southwestern Colorado finished at the bottom of a FiveThirtyEight analysis of national broadband usage. According to the report, in Saguache County, “only 5.6 percent of adults were estimated to have broadband.”
‘A Better Deal’ includes rural America, says Democratic leader Schumer
Aiming toward the 2018 mid-term elections, Democratic leaders in the Senate and House unveiled an economic agenda that includes a large tax credit for job training — an idea intended to resonate in rural areas and small cities, said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. The package, called "A Better Deal," puts a priority on bringing broadband to all parts of the country and promises stricter antitrust laws to preserve competition in agriculture.
Senate panel votes to keep top USDA rural development job, tells Trump to fill it
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved unanimously a USDA-FDA funding bill that rejected President Trump's proposals to slash spending on rural development, crop insurance and food stamps. And in the first major congressional disagreement with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the $145 billion funding bill overrode his recent elimination of the slot for an undersecretary in charge of rural economic development — and directed the administration to fill the job.
Senators would override Perdue, keep top rural development official
In the first serious congressional disagreement with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on Thursday to reinstate the post of undersecretary for rural development, eliminated five weeks ago by Perdue in a USDA reorganization. "We want that position in place as part of our emphasis on rural development," said Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota.
House panel rejects Trump proposal to end two food aid programs
A House Appropriations panel voted unanimously to keep two U.S. food aid programs in operation, albeit with less money, rather than eliminate them as proposed by President Trump. The subcommittee also rejected most of Trump’s plan to terminate rural water, housing, and business development programs.
Nearly 40 percent of rural Americans lack access to high-speed internet
Most Americans take access to fast internet connections for granted, but in rural America, nearly four of every 10 people cannot get broadband, a disadvantage when commerce and public services are often routed digitally.
New interim USDA team looks a lot like the original interim team
In the second step of reorganizing the USDA’s executive portfolios, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue named three acting deputy undersecretaries to oversee the department’s ag export, crop subsidy, and forestry arms until Trump administration nominees report to work.
Give USDA’s new rural alignment a chance, Perdue asks senators
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue proposed to skeptical senators the legislative version of a money-back offer: Let me run rural development my way for a year and if you're not happy, you can have your undersecretary back. Perdue said he expects prompt and gratifying results from his approach of putting economic development under his direct control.
With new rural development leader, Perdue puts USDA reorganization into gear
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has put the first reorganization of the USDA in a generation into action by hiring an assistant, who will be based in his office, to oversee rural economic development efforts.
Realtors, key Senate Democrats oppose Perdue on rural development office
A month ago, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled a USDA reorganization plan that creates a new sub-cabinet post, undersecretary for trade, and eliminates the position of undersecretary for rural development. Now two key Senate Democrats have appealed to Perdue to retain the rural development slot.
Democratic senators oppose Trump cuts in rural development
Some 29 Senate Democrats, including all of the party’s members on the Agriculture Committee, signed a letter to President Trump objecting to his proposals to scale back USDA rural economic development programs.
Assistant secretary, or assistant to the secretary? Does it matter?
When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he would have a high-powered associate "sitting next to me, with walk-in privileges," focused on rural economic development, he said the new executive would be an assistant secretary. Actually, the job will be "assistant to the secretary," said a USDA spokesman, in arguing the title doesn't matter when you interact daily with a cabinet secretary.