Rethink Rural Development

For those of us who grew up in small, rural Kansas communities, our way of life is innate. The life lessons of hard work, honesty, accountability and helping your neighbor when they’re in need are second nature to us.

We’re all familiar with the population and demographic trends in Kansas. You can bend, shape and rearrange the numbers any way you want, but they always add up the same way – rural Kansas is becoming more rural.

These trends have huge and lasting ramifications on our hometowns – economically, socially and politically. In some cases, even survivability is in doubt.

Farm bills are traditionally broken down into “titles,” and one of them is rural development. The government spends millions of dollars on things like water and sewer systems, housing, health clinics, emergency service facilities and electric and telephone service.

We farmers have sort of a love-hate relationship with our federal government. The independent entrepreneur streak in us bumps right up against the fact that so many of our business decisions are intricately interwoven with dictates from Washington. Sometimes there’s friction.

One of the things we’re not especially enamored with is the disconnect between so many of the projects done in our hometowns under the banner of rural development.

Within Kansas Farm Bureau, we’ve spent the last couple of years getting smarter about all of the organized efforts one can find under the heading of rural development. Despite their best intentions, when you examine the population and economic trends in Kansas, one can make a compelling case they haven’t worked.

            Our organization’s consensus has emerged around this fundamental concept – truly meaningful rural development must come from within the community. The critical ownership essential for sustainable success simply does not exist in a top-down government approach.

Which leads, logically, to this premise: If our government is going to drop millions – or any amount – on rural development, wouldn’t those taxpayer dollars be best invested in efforts where people have an active stake in the outcome?

We have begun the conversation in Washington with members of our Kansas Congressional delegation, who, in turn, have opened doors to other key committee and sub-committee chairs to engage them in this dialogue. Our early discussions are encouraging.

We want our hometowns to be thriving, active centers of social and economic activity. Most 21^st century family farms in Kansas involve one of the spouses working full or part time off the farm. If there are no jobs available in town, it’s harder to keep that family on the farm.

Our consensus is centered on four fundamental concepts, aimed at adding value and structure to the hundreds of small-town Kansans who seek nothing less than to save a culture.

Those concepts are fostering entrepreneurship, retaining youth, retaining wealth and developing leaders. Imagine the potential for our hometowns if our government’s investment in rural development were built upon the foundation of these four community-centric pillars.

Our members will have plenty to say about the other component “titles” of the farm bill, but at the end of the day, the same underlying motivation drives us: The decisions made by our federal government in the 2007 farm bill can and should help those of us who live it every day – preserve our rural heritage and way of life.

Steve Baccus was born, raised and lives in the Ottawa County community of Minneapolis. He raises wheat, corn, soybeans, milo and sunflowers on land that has been in his family for four generations. He serves as president of Kansas Farm Bureau, a grassroots, non-profit advocacy organization that supports farm families who earn their living in a changing industry.