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interconnectivity of rural economic development and farm economic development. The trip was
sponsored by the German Marshall Fund and the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) at the
University of Missouri.

For Don Villwock, who served as president of the Indiana
Farm Bureau at that time, it was a chance to “personally
witness what a public policy commitment could do to promote
and establish pristine small rural towns where the best and
brightest citizens wanted to live. Their rural landscapes were
breathtaking and the pride of local officials was
outstanding. Representatives from corn, wheat, soybean, pork,
cotton, beef, as well as the National Farmers Union, American
Farm Bureau Federation and the National Association of
Counties were invited to see how the European Union was
moving away from direct supports for commodities to
programs that paid to develop and sustain rural areas. Don Villwock

“Rural development is about building a community in which
residents want to live, work and have their children and grandchildren play,” Villwock told Agri-
Pulse. “If we expect our communities to grow and thrive they need some of the basic
infrastructure that urban towns and cities take for granted. These underdeveloped small
towns need adequate water and sewer resources.

“Today, having high speed internet is as critical for economic development as access to rail
and roads. Having excellent and close-by health and child care is key as well to retaining
professional workers. Grants by the public sector and assistance by USDA economic specialists
can be the spark needed to turn around rural communities and change the lives all across rural
America.”

RUPRI Director Chuck Fluharty also participated in that EU tour
and wanted farm leaders to think differently about the rural
development challenges they faced back home.

“The rural America that existed when the first Rural
Development Act was passed in 1972 is gone. The ensuing four
decades have forever altered the economic, demographic, social
and political fabric of the American countryside,” Fluharty said.

“And, as we all know, the nature of farming, and its relative
importance to broad, rural economic development, has also
Chuck Fluharty radically changed,” Fluharty wrote in the Drake Law Journal
while addressing rural development issues. “Until the 1970s, most agreed that a solid agricultural
development program was the best rural development policy that could be envisioned.

“However, this is no longer the case. As the maps below show, even in 1969, a great swath of
rural America was very minimally impacted by agricultural employment.

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