NADO Executive Director Matthew Chase participated in a special Farm Bill forum held by the Farm Foundation at the National Press Club on June 14. The panel discussion focused on the future of the USDA Rural Development mission area in the 2012 Farm Bill.  Chase discussed the importance of defining the federal role in rural development, enhancing the program flexibility and speed of USDA programs, and developing new access to capital tools for rural entrepreneurs and
businesses.

Listen to the NADO speech on Rural Development – starts at minute 21 of the file. (http://www NULL.farmfoundation NULL.org/news/articlefiles/363-2011-06-15_farm_foundation_forum_6 NULL.15 NULL.11 NULL.mp3)

“We need to try and build a world‐class economy and figure out how can we position rural American for the future,” remarked Chase. “If we don’t get serious about how can we modernize [federal] programs, make them more effective, and really have a return on investment, the default policy will be just to eliminate them, or to continue this death by 1,000 cuts. We need more modern tools that can help rural industries really take advantage of their assets.”

Chase also highlighted the need to promote regional approaches within USDA Rural Development. “We need to build new incentives into rural development programs to not require, but to incentivize regional behavior. Rather than doing it town by town, we need to look regionally.”

Listen to the NADO speech on Rural Development – starts at minute 21 of the file. (http://www NULL.farmfoundation NULL.org/news/articlefiles/363-2011-06-15_farm_foundation_forum_6 NULL.15 NULL.11 NULL.mp3)