An Indiana native, Anne Hazelett is currently the Assistant to the USDA Secretary for Rural Development. She has worked on agriculture and rural issues for over fifteen years. Working in both the U.S. House and Senate, Hazelett has most recently served as Republican Chief Counsel for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry where she was an advisor on many issues impacting rural America from Farm Bill programs to broadband and child nutrition. In addition to her public service in Washington, Hazelett was the Director of Agriculture for her home state where she managed the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and was an advisor to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on agriculture and rural issues.

Doug gets to the bottom of what exactly the Rural Development Agency of the USDA does, as well as tackling the issues of what role the agency plays in working with small rural farms, how Rural Development is helping with the Hurricane Harvey disaster and how the UDSA RD is trying to tackle the national opioid epidemic which is most prevalent in rural areas and farming communities.