By RACHEL LANE

D.C. Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Discussion on the 2018 farm bill continues as U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry members learn more about rural development and energy programs.

Committee Chair Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said at a hearing last week there are 39 programs in the farm bill without a budget baseline. The bill is under close scrutiny this year due to “the very tough budgetary environment,” he said.

President Donald Trump has proposed cutting funding to farm bill programs and decreasing the USDA budget by about 25 percent. In mid-September, the Senate approved an increase of about $700 billion in a defense policy bill, including $37 billion more for the Pentagon than Trump requested.

“While it is a principal duty of this committee to ensure the next farm bill provides our nation’s agricultural producers with the necessary tools and resources to feed a growing and hungry world, our responsibilities, and the role of USDA, do not stop there,” Roberts said.

“It is also critical the next farm bill works to support rural businesses, cooperatives, health clinics, schools, renewable energy and biobased product manufacturers and other essential services providers that serve as the backbone of the communities our farmers and ranchers call home.”

Anne Hazlett, assistant to the secretary for Rural Development at the USDA, said 85 percent of the poorest counties in America are in rural. “Conditions in many rural American towns are incredibly challenging.”

She said the USDA and Secretary Sonny Perdue are focused on providing economic opportunities by supporting existing programs that work. Part of that process is the creation of the Rural Innovation Center that Perdue has proposed. The center would analyze data, policies and trends to help the USDA be forward-focused.

Economic development opportunities are found in providing good schools and daycares in communities. Hazlett said she has learned that site selectors for companies look for four things in a community: daycare, high-speed internet, good roads and access to railroads.

Infrastructure needs like high-speed internet are important to get young people to return to rural communities after graduating from college. It would allow businesses to form and grow and assist farmers, she said.

The USDA has been supporting biorenewable research for several years. Brent Shanks, director of NSF Engineering Research Center of Biorenewable Chemicals at Iowa State University, said specific actions in the farm bill and advancements in technology, new biorefineries and marketing of biofuel are needed to help the industry grow.

Shanks said discussions have occurred before the last two farm bills. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the agriculture committee, said the biobased economy allows more farmers to sell more crops and encourages new employment opportunities.

“It’s clear the opportunities we created in the 2014 farm bill are helping our small towns,” she noted.

She has seen how important opportunities are in rural America. Providing more assistance to these areas would allow towns to update waterlines and provide clean water to residents, as well as the high-speed internet needed to attract young people and businesses.