U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer held a conference call with reporters to discuss accomplishments of the Bush administration. We were on the call and I thought I’d share a segment with you in this week’s program.

I’ve been pointing out the increased investment in rural broadband through the Rural Development department here on AgWired since we got started and the Secretary mentioned it in his remarks.

Since 2001 this administration has shown its commitment to rural America by investing an average of $14 billion a year in rural development, 36 percent higher than the level of spending when we took office. Those investments have created 2 million new jobs, they’ve expanded broadband service, upgraded health care and emergency response services, and supported renewable energy and energy efficient projects.

I hope we’ll see continued investment in rural broadband with the new administration.

In this week’s program I’ve also got an update on the IFAJ 2009 Congress/Agricultural Media Summit from Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest. There are updates to the schedule, including post-Congress tours on the Congress website and according to Greg plans are moving along smoothly.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 203 (13 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Greg Lamp - ZimmCast 202

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