Center for Rural Affairs

It is a critical time for you to speak out on the importance of federal rural development funding. The farm bill passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee in April was the first in decades to include no funding for rural development.

If that stands, the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program will likely die. It provides loans, training, and business planning assistance for businesses with up to 10 employees. There will be more cuts in Value Added Producer Grants for family farmers and ranchers adding new enterprises.

Small towns will face longer waits and get less assistance in upgrading water and sewer systems. That is of particular concern to communities facing EPA requirements to upgrade their systems.

The good news is that we all have the opportunity to help restore the funding. The Senate committee bill is just one step in the process. And as the bill was passed, committee chair Debbie Stabenow (MI) pledged to work with Senators Ben Nelson (NE) and Sherrod Brown (OH) to rectify the problem. Brown and Nelson had called on the committee to do better.

Rural development funds have been cut by 1/3 since 2003; by 1/2 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Most funding and the largest cuts have come from the appropriations process, by which Congress allocates annual spending. But recent farm bills have helped boost support for job creating and community building rural development programs. Eliminating farm bill funding makes matters worse.

It is a critical time for you to speak out on the importance of federal rural development funding. Contact me for more information, Chuck Hassebrook, chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2100.