In 2008, nearly 1,000 donors from across the nation helped us shatter our goal to raise $35,000 for our 35th birthday. The final tally was $38,641 in modest gifts from individuals just like you. And in the last quarter, more than 1,000 donors gave over $60,000 to support our efforts to prepare for a new Congress, a new presidency, and new opportunities for family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and rural entrepreneurs, including beginning farmers and ranchers.

Sign the Grassroots Letter to Tom Vilsack

Congratulations on your selection to lead the Department of Agriculture. We offer our support and assistance. The President-elect has already provided a compelling mission to guide your efforts in his platform, “Real Leadership for Rural America.”

“Rural communities in America are at a critical point in history. For the past decade, rural America has not been well served by federal policies, and if Republicans and Democrats in Washington continue those misguided policies, rural families will see their economic fortunes fall further behind those of other Americans. But we have the power to set a different course. Innovative rural Americans have proven they can compete in the 21st century. But local initiative must be matched by federal policies that empower rural Americans and family farmers.”

Please consider these recommendations as you launch your efforts to achieve that mission.

New members of Congress take their places in Washington, D.C. this month. With the election behind them, legislators face the difficult task of living up to campaign promises. While the economy is a top priority, health care reform is sorely needed and is critical to rebuilding our economy, especially in rural America. Members of Congress are already putting their ideas into legislation as they prepare to debate after President-elect Obama takes office.

We have written extensively about the health care challenges faced by rural small businesses, including farmers and ranchers. Our report Health Care in Rural America (www.cfra.org/policy/health-care) speaks in detail about farm and ranch families’ dependence on a system that is very expensive and provides minimal coverage.

Now a new health insurance survey of farmers and ranchers corroborates the financial hardships that accompany rising health care costs.

There were not a lot of highlights in the 2008 farm bill. But one was a provision that requires USDA to write regulations that define an “unreasonable preference or advantage” under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The Act prohibits the kind of “sweetheart deals” that packers give large, industrial livestock operations. But USDA has never effectively enforced the law.

This month we introduce the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). It replaces the Conservation Security Program that was part of the 2002 Farm Bill. Because of the problems in the way the old program was rolled out, we’re happy to say, “out with the old and in with the new.”

The Center for Rural Affairs is committed to making a difference. Making a statement is not enough. Working positively with other organizations and elected officials is almost always the best approach to changing policy. But there are some instances when we must hold others accountable by speaking hard truths to the public.

Alabama: As part of Gov. Bob Riley’s plan to equip the state with high-speed internet by 2012, a 15-member council heard presentations from six possible vendors and then narrowed it to three.

Our series on leadership concludes this month with suggestions on how to find these people.

Effective leadership is absolutely necessary to advancing a community’s future. This has been driven home to me time and time again, and you’ve probably all experienced it. Someone has a great idea for a community project, but no one takes the lead to completion. All you get out of the great idea is a few meetings and the frustration that “nothing gets done.” When this happens, it’s difficult to get people involved again.

This is an excerpt from a blog post written by Center Advisory Board member Marcel LaFlamme.

What I remember about the summer before my senior year of high school are the hours I spent at the Monson Free Library. I grew up in small-town western Massachusetts, and when, at 16, I started to wonder whether maybe, possibly, I might be gay, I wasn’t sure who to talk to or where to turn. I remember spending part of that summer reading Chastity Bono’s memoirs, concealing the cover of the book behind a news magazine so that no one could see what I was reading.

Learn how entrepreneurship and innovation can improve your skills, enhance your bottom line, and build a thriving rural community at MarketPlace, coming to the Sandhills Convention Center in North Platte, Nebraska, on Feb. 25, 2009.

2009 Agri/Eco-Tourism Workshop offers education, networking opportunities

The 2009 Governor’s Agri/Eco-Tourism Workshop will offer the Nebraska tourism industry a fun way to network, learn and cross-promote business. This year’s workshop will take place Feb. 3 and 4 at the Sandhills Convention Center in North Platte.