Harkin makes push to increase funds for rural development in Farm Bill

Rural development could become a bigger part of the Farm Bill, provided Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, can find a way to pay for it. The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Harkin wants to add $2 billion in mandatory spending over the next five years for rural development, reports The Des Moines Register.

The bill has yet to move in the Senate. The House version includes just one mandatory spending program, which puts $30 million in grants aimed at encouraging value-added crops, so Harkin must work to guarantee the necessary funds for his development projects, writes Philip Brasher of the Register's Washington bureau.

Chuck Fluharty of the Rural Policy Research Institute called Harkin's measure "by far, the single most significant piece of rural development legislation ever offered by a seated chairman of any U.S. committee." Beneficiaries range from water systems to child-care centers to small-business owners and other entrepreneurs, Brasher writes. Harkin may be helped by White House criticism of the House version for its lack of expansion of the rural development function of the Department of Agriculture. (Read more)

In a recent report, the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs noted the gap in funding between farm commodities and programs for rural development, write Chris Green and Sarah Kessinger of the Harris News Service. Farm commodities account for $42 billion of the $286 billion House farm bill, while rural development accounts for $456 million, but only $30 million of that is mandatory spending. (Read more)