Has main street shared in the nation's economic boom?

Economic conditions - United States ; Rural development ; Rural areas

New directions for U.S. rural policy

Rural development ; Rural areas

This little piggy went to market : will the new pork industry call the Heartland home?

Throughout the 1990s, the pork industry has been at the forefront of a revolution in the structure of the U.S. food and agricultural sector. In particular, the pork industry has been rapidly moving away from its traditional structure built on hundreds of thousands of small farms selling hogs at local terminal markets to a much more concentrated "supply chain" model. Contracting is one prominent feature of supply chains, and the share of pork production grown under contract or vertical integration has jumped from a few percent in the early 1980s to around a third today. Most analysts agree that the structure of the U.S. pork industry will soon resemble that of the U.S. poultry industry, which moved to a supply chain structure more than three decades ago. In short, the hog industry, once a quintessential "family farm" enterprise, has gone to market---a very big market.> As the pork industry's structure has changed, so has its geography. Raising hogs was once heavily concentrated in the Corn Belt, since corn is the primary feed for hogs. The shift to supply chains, however, has taken the pork industry to many new places. North Carolina and Virginia became major pork states in the 1980s. More recently, the industry has moved aggressively into states in the Great Plains that used to be cattle country, Oklahoma being a good case in point. Pork production there has leaped nearly 900 percent since 1990. Where the pork industry locates in the future carries big economic implications.> Drabenstott examines the changes taking place in the U.S. pork industry. He concludes that the recent geographic shift in the industry could foreshadow still more shifts in the future, possibly including moves to Canada, Mexico, or South America.Animal industry ; Federal Reserve District, 10th

Consolidation in U.S agriculture : the new rural landscape and public policy

The year just past was one of turbulent markets and unmet expectations for most of U.S. agriculture. Public and private attention focused mainly on the steep drop in farm commodity prices, and when the soggy markets might show signs of recovery. Yet while they captured most of the headlines, weak prices were also contributing to subtle, and some not so subtle, changes in U.S. agriculture. Taken together, these changes amounted to a new wave of consolidation that spread throughout the industry. Consolidation is certainly not new in agriculture---it has been underway for most of the 20th century. What is new is the type and speed of the consolidation. The consolidation is receiving widespread attention, but many observers overlook how it will redraw the economic landscape in rural America, posing formidable new challenges for many rural communities.> In testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in January, and the House Committee on Agriculture in February, Drabenstott addressed the two key questions that surround this critical topic. First, what does consolidation mean for U.S. agriculture and its participants? And second, what issues, if any, does the new wave of consolidation pose for public policy?Agriculture ; Agricultural prices

Capital for agriculture and rural America: redefining the federal role

U.S. agriculture depends on capital for its success. Nearly a trillion dollars of capital is at work in production agriculture, with trillions more at work in the rest of the U.S. food system. Public policy has always been concerned with ensuring that farmers have access to adequate amounts of capital at competitive terms. But as is true for many other parts of agricultural policy, substantial changes in the industry now call into question both the degree and type of policy intervention that have been undertaken in the past.> The United States has a highly efficient market for agricultural credit. In many respects, it is a model market for the rest of the world. The agricultural credit market provides ready amounts of credit to farmers, at competitive rates, on terms that suit their unique needs. Without question, public policy has helped to develop this efficient market. But now that it operates smoothly the question is, what should be the public role in the future?> In this article, based on testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in March of this year, Drabenstott concludes that while there may be less need today for a federal government role in agricultural credit, there may be more need to pay attention to rural credit in the future.Agricultural credit

Beyond agriculture : new policies for rural America : a conference summary

More than 250 rural leaders from throughout the nation and beyond gathered at a special conference in Kansas City in April to discuss rural America's future, its challenges, and policies to meet those challenges. The conference was the first in a new series sponsored by the Center for the Study of Rural America. Fifteen distinguished economists and rural experts made presentations at the conference, with keynote remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Conference participants represented all regions of rural America, five foreign nations, and many walks of life--business, agriculture, banking, universities, and public officials at the federal, state, and local levels.> Drabenstott, the Center's Director, summarizes the presentations made at the conference. Participants agreed that the current pattern of uneven rural growth is likely to persist, leaving many rural communities searching for new sources of growth. Another point of agreement was that agriculture will remain a key sector to the rural economy, but not big enough to assure strong growth in many parts of the nation. A strong consensus formed around the need to connect rural America to the digital economy, and to raise the skills of workers and leaders to compete more effectively. While there was no consensus on which new policy direction holds the greatest promise for rural America, there was general agreement that new paths are essential if rural America is to seize its full economic potential.Agriculture ; Rural areas ; Rural development

Exploring agriculture's new frontier

Agriculture ; Rural areas ; Rural development

Rethinking federal policy for regional economic development

Economic development policy is a major priority of the federal government. Over the past century, Congress has created a panoply of programs aimed at economic development in communities and regions. These programs have sprung up at different times, with different goals, and with different ways of meeting those goals. Yet taken together they add up to a big priority and a lot of dollars. By one estimate, the federal economic development effort spanned 180 programs in 2004 and spent more than $180 billion. This is a critical time to take stock of this federal effort. The current deficit makes every dollar count in Washington. But there is a far more compelling reason to rethink federal policy for economic development: The world has changed but federal policy has not. Globalization of markets for goods, services, capital, and currencies has fundamentally changed the rules of the game in economic development. The problem is quite simple: Most federal programs for economic development were written for the economy of the 20th century, not the 21st century. Drabenstott examines how federal policy might shift to align with the new global economy. First, he summarizes the current federal role in economic development. Second, he describes the evolution in economic development thinking. Third, he explains why three shifts in federal policy will be important if the nation wants to help regions hone their competitive edge.Regional economics ; Economic development

Top ten ways to reinvent rural regions

Rural areas ; Rural development

AGRICULTURE IN A NEW CENTURY: WHAT ROLE FOR USDA INFORMATION?

Farm Management,