could not get this important legislation passed.
“It isn’t just the differences policy…but that Congress
doesn’t understand farm issues,” the Secretary stated.
“There is a huge communication gap between farms
and the food-eating public,” he said. Well whose fault is
that?
The farm community should remind the Agriculture
Secretary to get to Capitol Hill and fill that gap. He
should educate the Members and staff about rural
America. That is the way it used to work.
Only because of the scare Vilsack put out, during the
fiscal cliff negotiations, about the cost of milk rising did
the farm bill get extended until September.
West Virginia farmers benefit from the farm and
conservation programs in the farm bill. These programs
assist with their income and in helping meet various
environmental regulations.
Why?
USDAgov photostream
By Bill Phillips
F
arm and non-farm rural America got a shock
last fall when U. S. Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack said rural America is “…
becoming less and less relevant.”
Who knows why the person charged as the number
one advocate for rural America would make such an
outrageous statement. Vilsack said rural Americans
need to be more strategic in picking their political fights.
Maybe it was politics as Mitt Romney won 61 percent
of rural voters and President Obama was backed by 37
percent.
With the farm bill stuck in Congress in an election
year Ag Secretary Vilsack was likely looking for a
scapegoat as to why he as the leader of rural America
An even greater benefit to farmers throughout rural
America is the creations of off-farm income – or should I
say a job in town. For far too long the U. S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) through both Republican and
Democrat administrations, has shown little to no interest
in rural development.
It is rural development that can help small places
become viable, create jobs and provide the off-farm
income to help farm families. Going back to 1972 - and
even before that - Congress charged the Secretary of
Agriculture with the responsibility to stand up and fight
for rural America – not just the farming part – the part
that I call non-farm rural America.
Vilsack’s own Department has reported that about
50 percent of rural counties have lost population in the
past four years and poverty rates are higher there than
in metropolitan areas, despite the booming agricultural
economy.
While the farm bill was under consideration in
Congress, 44 organizations came together in a Campaign
for a Renewed Rural Development. They offered
policy changes that would have ensured federal rural
see Why?, page 8
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 7