C-FARE’s Brandt Forum Caps Two-Day Meeting of Economists, Administrators
Oct 29, 2019 — About 60 people — some agency administrators, Hill staffers and agricultural economists — turned out for the 2019 Jon Brandt Public Policy Forum, entitled Approaches for Bolstering Rural America’s Future: A Spotlight on Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship and Rural Health. The event was sponsored and coordinated by the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE).
The panel discussion took place inside the House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee hearing room. It was moderated by Tim Marema from the Daily Yonder. He was joined at the table by the following experts:
Joy Moten-Thomas, assistant administrator for community development and outreach for the cooperative extension at Fort Valley State University;
Corianne Scally, principal research associate for the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute;
Alison Davis, professor of agricultural economics and director of the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky at the University of Kentucky; and
Roberto Gallardo, assistant director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and a Purdue Extension Community & Regional Economics Specialist.
The discussion ranged from the shifting business models (and closure) of rural hospitals, university Extension offices’ efforts, housing in small communities and rural broadband internet.
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C-FARE members visit dozens of congressional offices
Oct. 29, 2019 — Members of the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics paid visits to 17 U.S. representatives, including Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), and more than three dozen Senate offices in Washington as part of C-FARE’s Congressional Visits Day.
The rounds inside the Russell, Dirksen and Hart Senate office buildings and the Longworth and Rayburn House office buildings made up a significant part of a two-day trip to the nation’s capital for agricultural economists representing about 20 land-grant universities from Vermont to Arizona, Florida to Wyoming.
These university professors and department heads used the opportunity to discuss new research directions, current challenges facing farm budgets and operations, and the future of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Economic Research Service offices.
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National Association of Agricultural Economics Administrators holds biennial meeting
Oct. 28, 2019 — At its biennial meeting in Washington, the National Association of Agricultural Economics Administrators (NAAEA) discussed ongoing communication, federal funding, policy and even media pitching.
The NAAEA is the preeminent organization of administrators of university departments, foundations, and public agencies that support agricultural economics, resource economics and agribusiness management, teaching, research and extension/outreach programming.
Members, leadership of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and board members of the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) were hosted by Arizona State University at its Barbara Barrett and Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center, in a conference room with a wraparound terrace just blocks from the White House. ASU offered its facility to the NAAEA gratis.
National program leaders from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation visited throughout the day. AAEA President Keith Coble updated participants on the group’s strategic plan development. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Director Sally Rockey discussed successful expertise and funding collaborations between academia and industry, in particular opportunities that enhanced the economic and environmental resilience of the food supply.
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Approaches for Bolstering Rural America’s Future: A Spotlight on Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship, and Rural Health
Issues associated with access to health care, housing affordability, high-speed internet and economic development are not unique to rural areas. However, rural geography creates unique constraints to addressing these challenges. Additionally, the primary industries, which include agriculture and manufacturing, in rural America are also under immense pressure from global competition. At a timely moment, C-FARE has engaged the foremost thinkers on infrastructure, housing, health, and economic development to convey the most important factors for moving the needle on improving rural conditions.
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