The most recent is Title VI of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( P.L. 113-79 ). The trends noted above suggest a range of issues that were important in shaping the provisions of the rural development title of the 2014 farm bill:
conservation and environmental restoration as rural employment opportunities; stemming rural population out-migration; vertical integration and coordination of agriculture into supply networks and their implication for rural areas; developing rural entrepreneurial capacity; rebuilding an aging rural physical infrastructure; public service delivery innovations in sparsely populated areas; increasing suburbanization and the conflicts between agriculture and suburban development; human capital deficiencies in rural areas; regionally based efforts for economic development; and connecting businesses and rural communities with broadband telecommunications infrastructure. The rural development title of omnibus farm bills does not address every program administered by the three USDA mission agencies. In addition to the authorization of three new regional development commissions in the 2008 farm bill, the 2014 farm bill also prioritized multijurisdictional planning for strategic rural development. The rural development title authorizes a new Strategic Economic and Community Development initiative (Section 6025) that will prioritize projects that support economic development plans on a multijurisdictional basis. The program reserves 10% of the appropriation for community facilities, rural utilities, rural business and cooperative development accounts for projects that meet the criteria of strategic development. Section 6205 authorizes a new Rural Energy Savings Progra m. The program provides loans to utility districts and Rural Utility Service borrowers to assist rural households and small businesses in implementing durable, cost-effective energy efficiency measures. Section 6105 authorizes a new Rural Gigabit Network Pilot Program (operating at a 1 gigabit per second downstream transmission capacity) that could bring ultra high-speed broadband to more rural areas. Section 6006 authorizes an Essential Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Program . Other Major Provisions

In addition to these newly authorized programs, the rural development title also includes other provisions to reauthorize and/or amend a wide variety of loan and grant programs that provide further assistance in four key areas: (1) broadband and telecommunications, (2) rural water and wastewater infrastructure, (3) business and community development, and (4) regional development. Each of these programs has authorized discretionary spending subject to annual appropriations, with the exception of one mandatory spending authorization of $150 million for reducing the backlog of pending water and waste water applications. Section 6201 reauthorizes the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Loan and Grant Program, which provides funding for end-user telecommunications equipment. Funding is authorized at $20 million annually (FY2014-FY2018), subject to annual appropriations. Section 6008 reauthorizes Water Systems for Rural and Native Villages in Alaska . Section 6210 provides $150 million in mandatory funding for Pending Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Applications. Business and Community Development

Section 6005 reauthorizes Tribal College and University Essential Community Facilities through 2018. Side-by-Side Comparison of Rural Development Provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill with the House- and Senate-Passed Farm Bills
While many legislative proposals introduced in a given Congress may have implications for rural America, Congress has generally expressed concern with economic development of rural communities within the context of periodic omnibus farm bills, most recently in Title VI of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79). Congress uses farm bills to address emerging rural issues as well as to reauthorize and/or amend a wide range of rural programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) three rural development mission agencies: Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Utilities Service.
Title VI of the 2014 farm bill addresses a wide range of policy issues concerning rural America, many of which were also addressed in the 2008 farm bill. These issues included provisions such as equity capital development in rural areas, regional economic planning and development, essential community facilities, water and wastewater infrastructure needs, value-added agricultural development, and broadband telecommunications development. The 2014 farm bill expands high-speed broadband access in rural areas through a new rural gigabit network pilot program, establishes new criteria for prioritizing broadband loans, creates a new rural energy savings program, establishes a program for strategic economic and community development, and consolidates several existing business development grants into a broader program of business development grants. The bill also authorizes $150 million in mandatory spending for pending rural development loans and grants, primarily water and wastewater infrastructure projects. A side-by-side comparison of the final bill with the House- and Senate-passed provisions is provided at the end of the report.
The 2014 farm bill authorizes USDA to prioritize otherwise eligible applications that support multijurisdictional strategic economic and community development. The provision reserves 20% of a fiscal year's appropriation for community facilities, water and wastewater projects, and rural business development for such strategic economic development projects. The bill authorizes a new Rural Energy Savings Program that will provide 0% interest rate loans to eligible borrowers to implement energy efficiency measures. The bill also authorizes appropriations of $10 million annually (FY2014-FY2018) for a new Rural Gigabit Network Pilot program for "ultra-high speed" broadband connectivity, and amends through FY2018 many long-standing programs funded through annual appropriations—water and waste disposal grants, technical assistance for rural water systems, emergency community water assistance, business opportunity grants, water assistance to Native villages in Alaska, community facilities for tribal colleges, and distance learning and telemedicine, to name a few. Most of these programs received authorized funding at levels generally lower than authorized by the 2008 farm bill.