rural amerirca

In rural America, especially in frontier regions of South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska the shortage of health care professionals tends to be pronounced. For example, 55 of South Dakota’s 66 counties, or 83 percent of all counties, are designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage areas. There are even greater disparities in South Dakota rural areas regarding access to specialists. USDA Rural Development grants to Avera Regional Health System have been instrumental in developing and expanding telehealth services cost effectively to the smallest and most underserved hospitals and communities.

As further evidence of Secretary Vilsack’s belief that broadband is the foundation of rural economic development, he brought together American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) recipients, economic development experts, and USDA officials in Dallas last week.  They worked together to prepare for the deployment and expansion of broadband into some of the most remote locations in rural America.   The workshop provided the opportunity for recipients to learn about compliance and reporting requirements associated with their funding packages.  Additionally, the workshop brought together representatives in the broadband industry with economic development experts to communicate how their unique roles can work together in a holistic approach to community economic development.

A group of 17 men and women that represent the dairy industry met at USDA headquarters on Tuesday for the first time to find a solution to the volatile pricing of milk and milk products that has decreased industry profits and caused many operations to close.

“We need a relatively quick response from this group,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in his opening remarks to the newly-formed Dairy Industry Advisory Committee. “I hope at the end of all of this you can come up with a common solution that you can recommend to us and that we can present to the rest of the industry.”