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Healthy agriculture = healthy Rural America

Commentary.

Every year, the National Association of Farm Broadcasting holds a 2 to 3 day event in Washington D.C.  I didn’t attend this year, but I sure heard about it.   

During a visit with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack , a dear friend of mine and a member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting asked the honorable secretary if USDA was seriously considering how to maintain the farm income security net during farm program rewrites for 2012. The former Iowa governor, obviously uncomfortable with the topic, cut him off mid-question, saying the question was “irritating.”   He then went on to explain how, of course the Administration is thinking about the income safety net, but “that conversation has to become broader.” We need to worry about the overall economic health of rural America.

If you want a healthy rural America, you’re going to need a healthy agriculture. But that’s just me.

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