We know what Rural America needs, and it's for Congress to pass a big & bold Farm Bill that prioritizes rural America.

Many prominent political pundits often promote the idea that “nobody knows how to reverse rural America’s decline.” But, rural America’s fate is not sealed and there is no shortage of revitalization strategies for rebuilding distressed rural economies.  

• We can raise rural wages by making it easier to start or run small businesses and farms and by breaking up rural retail and agricultural monopolies that suppress wages and take revenues out of the community.
• We can lower daily expenses by reducing the cost of health, child and elderly care, while expanding access to affordable housing and increasing investments in transportation and digital connectivity.
• We can invest in the rural way of life by protecting and growing vital services like grocery stores, post offices, pharmacies and clinics if we prioritize rural development over corporate extractive agriculture subsidies.

Our extensive polling and public opinion research has shown that for many rural voters, actions speak louder than words. Good policy is still good politics. We have to make lives better and ensure rural voters know who is really fighting for them.

Heading into the 2023 Farm Bill—with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act and the Democrat’s Reconciliation Bill—we have a historic opportunity to erase the rural-urban fault lines that have plagued the American left for over a generation.

This year, the Farm Bill provides a critical opportunity to include this legislation to build rural prosperity from the bottom up: it’s time to demand from our Members of Congress that rural development should be a priority this session and in the 2023 Farm Bill.