More than half of America's rural counties are losing population and with it, political representation.

Although they are some of the hardest working folks I know, rural Americans earn, on average, $11,000 less than their urban counterparts each year. And they are more likely to live in poverty.

And sometimes people don't realize that 90 percent of the persistent poverty counties are located in rural America.

To keep farmers on the farm we must maintain a strong farm safety net, but we will also have to build a thriving companion economy to compliment production agriculture in rural America.

In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only nine percent of family farm income comes from farming, and more and more of our farmers are looking elsewhere for their primary source of income.

The lack of access to proper nutrition is not only fueling obesity, it is leading to food insecurity and hunger among our children.

If we are to transition to a new economy and to lead it, we must start by transforming our schools.