United States Department of Agriculture • Rural Development

1221 College Park Drive, Suite 200, Dover, DE  19904

Phone: (302) 857-3580 • Fax: (302) 857-3640 • TDD: (302) 857-3585 • Web: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov

March 14, 2006

For the USDA "Keeping the Farm" Weekly Column.

By Marlene B. Elliott

State Director

USDA Rural Development

Delaware and Maryland

With only a few days until the kickoff of National Agriculture Week, it is appropriate that this week’s column be dedicated to the work that we are called to do. The heading of this column "Keeping the Farm" goes appropriately with a message that we recently carried in our 2005 Annual Report, "The Keeper of Rural America". Through our report, it is our goal to make people aware of the programs available and the mission of our agency; this is how the message goes:

Think of us as the keeper of rural America. The United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development has been faithfully serving America’s rural communities for seven decades. Keeping sight of our storied past – We are committed to the future of rural communities.

We are the only agency within USDA that can help with almost any rural need; from housing to agriculture, to health care and public safety, to water and wastewater systems, to education, broadband, distance learning and telemedicine, to helping start-up new businesses and reviving old ones – we can help with this and so much more.

Across Delaware and Maryland, the employees of USDA Rural Development are working to help rural communities and agriculture producers hold on to their values and embrace the future. We offer assistance to individuals and families, non-profit organizations, faith based groups and State and Local governments with over 40 programs that can help improve the quality of life and increase economic opportunity.

From the northern reaches of Delaware City to Delmar, to all across rural Maryland – from the ocean to the mountains, communities and individuals have been touched by our programs. With the support of our Delaware and Maryland Congressional delegation and our many partners, we work diligently and prudently to bring back home the people’s money for programs that support shelter, agriculture, businesses, community facilities and infrastructure.

If you haven’t personally been involved with Rural Development’s programs, chances are you live near a Rural Development funded project that offers a service to you or your farm. You may get a cup of coffee from the corner restaurant that provides jobs as a result of our business programs. The restaurant may have access to a clean, safe, water supply and sanitary disposal of wastewater as a result of our funding that helps small towns meet the challenges of upgrading their water and wastewater systems. Guest workers harvesting vegetables may be living in one of our rental housing complexes designed for year round and seasonal farm laborers. You may have been the victim of a fire and have needed the services of your local fire department that received Rural Development funding to purchase their tanker. Other public services, funded through our Community Facilities Program, could be the local health center, library, school or police station to name a few. As energy prices are on the rise, an elderly relative may have received funding through our home repair grant program designed to eliminate health and safety hazards from homes -- it could mean replacing old windows or a leaking roof.

Or, you may be a friend of the Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel Facility in Clayton, Delaware that will provide a renewable fuel source made from soybeans or the Chesapeake Fields Farmers based in Chestertown, Maryland who are working to find new ways to help farmers become more profitable. Both of these projects were financed by USDA Rural Development.

Whatever the project may be, at USDA Rural Development we are here to serve the people that call rural America home. For more information on Rural Development programs or to obtain a copy of our 2005 Delaware/Maryland Annual Report, call or write the USDA Rural Development State Office, 1221 College Park Drive, Suite 200, Dover, DE 19904. Telephone: (302) 857-3580 or visit us on the web at www.rurdev.usda.gov.

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