WASHINGTON -- Agriculture Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager said June 10 that the Obama
administration plans to allocate more grants and loans in rural areas that are more distant from cities rather than the exurban areas that have received a lot of the housing, water and sewer, utilities and business development money that the rural development division administers.
In testimony before the House Agriculture Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee, Tonsager says, "I believe we can and should do a better job of reaching out to underserved constituencies and devoting more energy and resources to the poorest of the poor. I would hope, two or three years from now, that when one maps our investments, there will be less of a concentration in exurban areas and a greater presence in more rural jurisdictions."
He emphasized that he wants to increase farmers' use of the value-added producer grant program.
Tonsager also said the Obama administration will publish a rule governing USDA Rural Utilities Service and Commerce Department National Telecommunications and Information Administration broadband programs in the stimulus package by June 30. Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., the chairman of the rural development subcommittee, said the subcommittee will hold a hearing on broadband the week of July 6.