Clinton: investment, immigration reform will boost rural economies

ANKENY, Iowa (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said she would bolster rural economies by encouraging investment, boosting family farms' profitability, increasing clean energy production and improving access to education and healthcare.

Clinton's first stop in the early-voting state of Iowa on Wednesday was at the Des Moines Area Community College, where she toured a tool and die lab before addressing a crowd of about 200.

Clinton said she chose to roll out her plan to improve farm-area economies at the community college instead of in front of a barn or a bale of hay to "emphasize the changing face of rural Iowa."

"Iowans are in the future business, that is what all Americans should be in," Clinton said.

Clinton spends a lot of time campaigning in Iowa, which holds the first party-nominating contest ahead of the general election in 2016. The Democratic front-runner often praises the state's use of wind energy pledging to create incentives for other areas to make similar investments.

Clinton was introduced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor whose endorsement she secured late Tuesday. The move by the Obama administration cabinet member was seen as significant given speculation about a potential campaign by Vice President Joe Biden. Clinton also recently picked up the endorsement of the state's former longtime U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.

Clinton’s plan to improve rural communities would involve everything from increasing access to capital via a Farm Credit Administration program to simplifying regulations on small community banks to making permanent a tax credit for new investments in rural areas, according to her campaign.

Roughly 46 million U.S. residents – about 15 percent of the population – live in rural areas, Clinton’s campaign said.

Clinton also said immigration reform would be a component of her effort to boost agriculture production, criticizing recent remarks by Republican presidential candidates on the subject.

"From the orchards of California to the processing plants of Iowa to the groves of Florida," Clinton said, farms cannot find the workers they need. "We're talking about billions of dollars of income lost because of a farm worker shortage."

Details were not immediately available about how Clinton would pay for the rural investment proposals outlined in a two-page fact sheet.

(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Christian Plumb)