Effective rural development planning depends on facts and analysis based, not on rural averages, but on the diverse social and economic structure of rural America. Programs tailored to particular types of rural economies may be more effective than generalized programs. Because of their unique characteristics, government policies and economic…

According to estimates prepared by the Bureau of the Census and the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the 1982 farm population of 5,620,000, or 2.4% of the national population, continued a long downward trend. About 45% of farm residents lived in the North Central region, 35% in the South, 13% in the West,…