COMMENTARY
Rural America’s role in the energy economy
As the second term of the Bush
administration begins, I want to
express USDA Rural Development’s
continued commitment to
the positive agenda the President
has outlined for rural America. A
major component of the administration’s
domestic agenda continues
to be forming a new energy
policy with the development of
renewable energy technology playing
a key role. This ties into our
bio-based and bio-energy programs.
Both the nation’s farmer
and utility cooperatives are playing
a major role in this effort, and that
role will certainly grow in the years
ahead.
This effort includes the
Renewable Energy Systems and
Energy Efficiency Improvements
Grant Program (9006) from the
2002 Farm Bill. This initiative
makes it possible to finance the
purchase of renewable energy systems
and to make energy improvements
for agricultural producers
and rural small businesses through
grants offered through our business
programs. Other efforts include
USDA Rural Development electric
loans that encourage the inclusion
of renewable energy sources to help
power America’s rural electric grid.
To help achieve this goal, USDA
Rural Development has forged a
partnership with the Environmental
Protection Agency to promote
development of new, agriculturalbased
renewable energy projects
(see Newsline, page 40). This program
will benefit the environment,
will help reduce our dependence on
foreign oil and will boost revenues
for farmers and their co-ops, which
in turn bolsters the entire rural
economy.
President Bush has said America
must have an energy policy that
plans for the future, but meets the
needs of today. This will be our
goal as we finance new technologies
needed to convert bio-mass
into bio-based products and bioenergy
in a manner which is costcompetitive
in large national and
international markets. U.S. production
of ethanol from corn was 60
million gallons in the mid-1970s; in
2004, the U.S. produced an estimated
3.4 billion gallons.
USDA has also made great
progress in the implementation of
the President’s management agenda,
including the e-Government
Initiative; our services are now
available on the World Wide Web.
As a result, our programs are more
user-friendly to consumers and producers.
In the 1890 Land Grant Colleges
and Universities Initiative, we added
30 new 1890 scholars in December.
Our goal is to hire some of these
1890 scholars for exceptional careers
here at USDA.
One of the more competitive
programs available through USDA
Rural Development’s Cooperative
Programs is the Value-Added
Producer Grants (VAPG). These
grants consist of planning or using
working capital to establish a valueadded
agricultural marketing venture,
many of which are owned by
cooperatives. For an example, see
the Value-Added Corner on page
15 of this issue for a look at Golden
Ridge Cheese Cooperative in Iowa
and the article about Crooked Bow
beef strips on page 7. Last year,
approximately $13.2 million in
grants were available for up-andcoming
cooperatives in rural
America.
As you can see, our USDA Rural
Development team is committed to
providing strong leadership to
increase economic opportunities
and improve the quality of life for
citizens living in America’s rural
communities. We look forward to
working with you to bring such
opportunities to you and your
community.
Peter J. Thomas,
Administrator,
Business & Cooperative Programs,
USDA Rural Development
