With off-farm income now more important than returns on ag production for a majority of U.S. farm households, rural advocates are hopeful that policymakers will use the 2012 Farm Bill debate to have a thoughtful, more realistic discussion about broader economic development in the countryside. Dr. Charles Fluharty, president and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) at the University Missouri, joins us on Open Mic for a wide ranging discussion about rural America. Fluharty emphasizes that a prosperous future for rural areas will depend, in no small part, on moving beyond the "us versus them" mentality that's sabotaged previous attempts to view agriculture through a rural policy lens. In addition to assessing the current state of the rural economy, Fluharty talks about why the old approaches to rural development (RD) no longer work, the benefits of regional innovation strategies that leverage existing ag assets, and the need for smarter federal investments in RD.

The interview can be found at www.Agri-Pulse.com, and runs about 14 minutes.