Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry announced Monday in a telephone conference with reporters that, if elected, he would hold a key summit in Ames within the first 100 days of his administration to address critical issues facing people in rural areas.

Kerry said the summit would focus on the “special challenges” rural Americans are facing all over the nation, including access to health care, education, economic development and farm policy.

During his campaign, he said, he has felt a “sense of frustration” from people in rural communities.

“In the past two years, in my travels to Iowa and all across this country, I’ve met rural Americans who are struggling to find good jobs, affordable health care and quality education for America,” he said. “When I’m president, we’ll have a fresh start in rural America with my plan to bring hope and opportunity to all.”

He said President Bush has ignored these challenges, which have harmed many small towns. Instead, he said, the administration has encouraged companies to send more jobs overseas and allowed more consolidation in farming operations.

Kerry said there were a number of initiatives he would push for, including increased alternative fuel production, a ban on meat packing plants owning livestock and increased broadband access in rural areas.

“They don’t have a record to run on in rural America,” said John Norris, Kerry’s campaign manager in Iowa, of the Bush administration.

Norris said rural voters across America are going to be important in the election. The Kerry campaign, he said, is making an effort to reach out to voters in rural areas of the nation. “We recognize rural Americans are concerned about their future,” he said. “We are making this a big agenda in this campaign.”

In a release from the Bush-Cheney campaign, Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Lang said Kerry has opposed measures that were important to farmers.

“The president has consistently shown his support for Iowa’s farmers and rural communities by partnering with farmers and rural business people in economic development to increase production of ethanol and soy diesel,” Lang said.

According to the release, the president has helped rural economies through legislation such as the Jobs Creation Act of 2004. The act, among other things, extended the 12-cent-per-gallon ethanol tax credit and reduced taxes on U.S.-based manufacturing and construction industries.

Recent polls suggest the election has come down to a handful of battleground states, with a majority of them claiming a large rural population.

Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio are still considered to be toss-ups.

According to the latest Zogby poll, the president has a 2-point lead over Kerry — 47 to 45 percent — in Iowa, though this is within the 4-point margin of error.

Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin together have 27 electoral votes, which could tip the balance to a candidate if he loses a big state like Pennsylvania.

Neil Harl, emeritus professor of economics and distinguished professor of agriculture, was among the experts Kerry named as hopeful participants in the summit.

Harl said until now, both candidates haven’t paid much attention to farm-related issues.

“I think it’s true both of the candidates don’t know much about farm policy,” Harl said. “Most [candidates] come into the election not knowing much about farm issues.”

Since 1988, when he advised former Secretary of State Alexander Haig under President Reagan, Harl has been advising prospective candidates about what issues are important to people dependent on a farm economy.

“They’ve realized rural communities are more than just farmers,” he said.

According to a recent poll by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies, a Kentucky-based advocacy group, Bush is leading Kerry in rural areas of battleground states by 12 points, 53 to 41 percent.