COMMENTARY
Producers are natural leaders for rural communities
Editor’s note: Guest commentary for
this issue is by Lynn Jensen, state
director for USDA Rural Development
in South Dakota. Jensen,
past president of the National Corn
Growers Assoc., continues to farm at
Lake Preston, S.D., population 600,
and is an investor in several farmerowned,
value-added enterprises.
USDA Rural Development
isn’t crop subsidies. It isn’t conservation
programs. It doesn’t
deal with mad cow disease.
Rural Development is investment
banking. It’s the investment
arm of USDA with a focus on economic
opportunity and quality of
life.
In the first four years of the
Bush administration, Rural
Development has invested over
$50 billion in rural communities
for everything from new valueadded,
producer-owned businesses
to broadband technology. Rural
Development brings you electricity
and water and it helps build
your schools, hospitals and fire
stations.
It’s the lead federal agency on
value-added agriculture and one of
the key players on biofuels. It also
provides technical assistance,
research and education (including
this publication) to help build
stronger rural cooperatives.
As we continue to transition
beyond traditional commodity
agriculture, Rural Development
will be an increasingly important
partner across the board in rural
communities.
Business development is a big
part of what Rural Development
does. The fastest growth rate in
rural areas has been in farmerowned,
value-added businesses.
In rural communities, successful
producers and co-op members are
natural leaders. They have the
energy, the business experience,
the resources and the respect to
lead. If rural communities are
going to work, producers have to
get involved. This is about quality
of life. This is about your sons or
daughters coming back home.
We also know there’s a cash
value to your farms and ranches in
having good schools, a grocery
store, hospital, implement dealer
or fire station within a reasonable
distance. None of those things will
be there if producers don’t get
involved. Our communities need
you on the school board, the hospital
board, etc., but mostly on the
local economic development
board.
While we work to build
stronger rural communities, we
also need to continue to transition
to more value-added agricultural
businesses. The National Corn
Growers Association just issued a
new report, “Taking Ownership of
Corn Belt Agriculture,” which
producers need to read.
The report says: “As the business
leaders and economic engines
of their communities, U.S. farmers
and ranchers play a vital role in
revitalizing America. They possess
the capital reserves needed to
invest in new value-added ventures,
and the willingness to diversify
outside of raw commodity
production.”
Bio-agriculture is one of a number
of emerging technologies with
extraordinary potential. It is in its
infancy. I can’t tell you where it
will be in 20 years, but I do
believe in 20 years we will be
looking back in astonishment at
how far we’ve come.
Producers have some decisions
to make. Not everyone will make
the same choice. There are real
opportunities for producers to
participate in the ownership structure.
Ethanol, for example, took off
when producers got involved in a
big way. Ethanol is becoming a
decentralized industry with strong
local ownership. We know that has
had tremendous benefits for rural
communities.
Producers need to be alert to
the opportunities that will arise
along the way to participate in
ownership. That’s where the
greatest gains will be realized.
Lynn Jensen,
State Director
USDA Rural Development,
South Dakota
