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Journal Article
Main streets of tomorrow : growing and financing rural entrepreneurs : a conference summary
Entrepreneurship is the new focal point for rural development. This was the consensus of 200 rural policy officials and experts who gathered in Kansas City on April 28-29 for the fourth annual rural policy conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City?s Center for the Study of Rural America. For much of the past half century, rural development has been driven by twin incentives aimed at business recruitment and retention. This strategy is no longer working so well, however, for one simple reason?globalization. In a global marketplace, lower cost business sites abound, making ...
Journal Article
The farm slump eases
Another big package of government financial aid cushioned the farm slump in 2000 but did little to lift agriculture's spirit. Overall, the industry's major financial indicators stayed remarkably healthy. Farmers delivered more red meat and poultry to supermarkets than ever before, and strong consumer demand in the robust U.S. economy boosted livestock prices and profits. But another big crop swamped still sluggish global markets, and weak crop prices held down farm incomes. In the end, help from Washington propped up the industry's financial indicators for the third consecutive year.> Barkema ...
Journal Article
The new U.S. meat industry
A new meat industry is rapidly emerging in the United States, as food retailers, meat processors, and farms and ranches coalesce into fewer and larger businesses. The industry?s rapid consolidation in recent years has triggered alarms that the industry?s new giants in retailing and processing could drive up food prices for consumers and drive down livestock prices for producers. How should public policy respond to the industry?s consolidation? And how can all participants in the industry?producers, processors, retailers, and consumers?benefit from its new structure?> Barkema, Drabenstott, and ...
Journal Article
A resurgent rural economy spurs farmland values
The rural economy broke free from the reins of recession in 2004 with an especially strong performance in the farm sector. Net farm income easily surpassed the record high of 2003. And the weakness that plagued the nonfarm rural economy in recent years appears to have been replaced with stronger job growth and higher incomes. Strong performances in the farm and nonfarm sectors have led to soaring land values. Rising incomes are often capitalized into asset values, and the past year was no exception. Rising rural incomes quickly led to strong land value gains. Since real estate is rural ...
Journal Article
New approaches to rural policy : lessons from around the world : a conference summary
New approaches to rural policy are badly needed, as past reliance on subsidies and policies focused on a single sector are yielding diminishing results. Fortunately, a new frontier of policy experiments is emerging, and this frontier holds great promise in helping rural regions seize new economic potential. ; This was the consensus of more than 120 leading officials and rural policy experts from around the world who gathered near Washington, D.C., on March 25-26, 2004, to explore new approaches to rural policy. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ...
Journal Article
New governance for a new rural economy : reinventing public and private institutions : a conference summary
A growing chorus of rural leaders agrees that new opportunities are on the horizon for rural America. Economic consolidation and outmigration need not be rural America?s future. The question most rural regions now face is this: How to claim the new opportunities? At root, this question is all about governance?how regions make economic decisions quickly and effectively. Simply put, regional governance is about how public and private leaders work together to build new economic engines that can compete in globalizing markets. More than 150 rural policy experts and leaders gathered in Kansas City ...
Journal Article
Will rains and a national recovery bring rural prosperity?
Drought and a jobless recovery battered the rural economy in 2002. The worst drought since the Dust Bowl gripped many parts of rural America, leading to forest fires, livestock liquidations, short crop supplies, and a plunge in farm incomes. After a solid start, a soft period for the national economy limited the ability of rural businesses to create new jobs. As rural stakeholders looked at their new menu of economic options, many were left wondering if rains and a stronger national recovery would be enough to lead rural America back to prosperity. ; Henderson and Novack examine the rural ...
Journal Article
Globalization paves a new road to prosperity