Trump's Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity calls for connectivity, quality of life, other goals

Agriculture Secretary Perdue on RV listening tour (USDA photo)

On Jan. 8 the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity gave President Trump its report on ways to improve life in rural America. The report identified five "Calls to Action": Achieving e-Connectivity for Rural America, Improving Quality of Life, Supporting a Rural Workforce, Harnessing Technological Innovation and Developing the Rural Economy. Each call to action included a list of recommendations for legislative, regulatory and policy changes to help implement each call to action.

"To achieve the objectives set out in the report, the task force also recommends the president establish a federal commission on agriculture and rural prosperity that would meet at least bi-annually and prepare regular reports to the president on its progress," Jenny Schlecht reports for AgWeek. "It also recommends establishing a stakeholder advisory council to advise the commission and establishing a managing director to oversee both the commission and the advisory council."

Trump established the task force April 25 and made Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue its chair. It solicited public feedback by holding listening sessions and taking comments from the public online. Perdue also went on a 30-state RV tour.

"Many of the recommendations throughout the report involve improving cooperation among federal agencies, establishing additional task forces, reducing regulatory burdens and finding better ways to utilize existing resources," Schlecht reports.