The Obama Administration today announced that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will host a National Summit of Rural America: A Dialogue for Renewing Promise. The day-long event will take place in Hillsboro, Mo., on June 3, 2010 on the campus of Jefferson College, near St. Louis, Mo.

"This Summit will be an opportunity for rural Americans to share their vision for creating a more prosperous and promising future for rural America," said Vilsack. "The Obama Administration is committed to strengthening rural America, and now farmers, ranchers, and foresters from throughout the country can have the opportunity to engage with key policymakers and community leaders to discuss the priorities and policies necessary to keep its future bright."

Participants at the National Summit on Rural America will take part in plenary and breakout sessions on a multitude of issues which include rebuilding and revitalizing rural America, creating new jobs, improving infrastructure, improving farm competitiveness, and encouraging innovation in renewable energy. National policymakers will take the invaluable opinions and ideas from participants at the Summit back to Washington for implementation into future program and policy discussions.

Interested participants may register to attend the National Summit of Rural America: A Dialogue for Renewing Promise by visiting http://www.usda.gov/ruralsummit. Early registration is recommended as attendance will be limited to capacity constraints of the venue and breakout sessions. Members of the media interested in attending should RSVP to liz.purchia@oc.usda.gov.

This National Summit culminates the Rural Tour Secretary Vilsack led last year and visited 22 states to begin a conversation with farmers, ranchers, and people who live in rural communities. And last week, Vilsack joined President Obama as he visited rural communities in America's heartland on the White House to Main Street tour and continued to hear stories and ideas for rebuilding our economy in the long term.