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200+ ag groups push rural infrastructure improvements

More than 200 agriculture groups have signed a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to make rural infrastructure projects a priority.  Mark Hayes with Farm Credit Council tells Brownfield an extraordinary investment is needed.  “The infrastructure needs of rural America are different.  It’s not singularly focused on highways or bridges or harbors or port facilities like that, it’s broad and vast.”

 

Trump campaigned on rebuilding America’s infrastructure.  Hayes says it’s too early to know what proposals will be offered or how they will be paid for.  “There’s a lot to be sorted out for sure as they look at the different policy options and how they’re going to pay for it.  Right now as people are putting together legislation and putting together ideas, we just wanted to make sure that the voice of rural America was heard and was at the table.”

Hayes tells Brownfield the letter urges the president to address the entire transportation system. It also asks him to consider expanding rural access to broadband, clean water for rural families, and affordable energy.  “It’s really critical that the folks that are making the decisions, making the policy, have a full picture of the needs of the country and that rural America and the voice from (the) rural community is heard.”

 

Hayes says the condition of America’s infrastructure is a threat to American jobs and global commerce.