In April 2000, over 250 rural leaders from around the nation gathered in Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss rural America's future, its challenges, and policies to meet those challenges. Conference participants agreed that the current pattern of uneven rural growth is likely to persist and that agriculture will remain a key sector in the rural economy, but not big enough to support growth in many parts of the nation. A strong consensus formed around the need to connect rural America to the digital economy and to raise the skills of workers and leaders to compete more effectively. This proceedings contains a conference summary by Mark Drabenstott, 10 conference papers with transcripts of subsequent discussion, and commentaries. The papers are: "The Rural Economy in a New Century" (Thomas G. Johnson); "Rural Policy in a New Century" (Ray Marshall); "Rural America at a Crossroad" (Terry Jorde); "The Outlook for Rural America in the 21st Century" (Alan Greenspan); "Investing in Rural Infrastructure" (William F. Fox and Sanela Porca); "Boosting Rural Human Capital" (Martin C. Jischke); "Enhancing Rural Leadership and Institutions" (Stephen Cornell); "Creating New Economic Opportunities: The Competitive Advantages of Rural America in the Next Century" (Andrew M. Isserman); "Rural Policy Lessons from OECD Countries" (Mario Pezzini); and "New Goals for New Rural Policies" (Geoffrey J. D. Hewings). An overview panel presents comments by Jill Long Thompson, Jesse White, Allen I. Olson, and Javier M. Gonzales. (Contains references in papers and contributor profiles.) (SV)