The Center for Rural Affairs works to establish strong rural communities, social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, and genuine opportunity for all while engaging people in decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the future of their communities. More.
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Center On the Blogs
Montanans Talk Health Care: Join the Center for Rural Affairs at one of nine simultaneous meetings on June 29. Click for locations!North Dakotans Talk Health Care: Join the Center for Rural Affairs on June 29th in Mandan and June 30th in Harvey and Hillsboro. Click for details.
Organic Producers
$50 million, 21 days, apply today!
Farm Bill Programs for You and Your Community
Guide to new programs. Find out how to get started in farming or ranching, establish high-value niche markets, implement conservation-based systems and transition to organics.
May 4, 2009: Center for Rural Affairs unveils report at White House meeting. Read the release here, the blog post here.
Health Care & Rural America
Report: The Top 10 Rural Issues for Health Care Reform
Report: Rural Mental Health Overlooked and Disregarded
Report: The Causes and Consequences of the Rural Uninsured and Underinsured
Find all of our reports and relevant reports from others here.
Fact Sheet: Health Care and Rural America
July 2009 Newsletter
Read the Center's Most Recent Newsletter
Comments to USDA
Close farm payment loopholes.
Media Highlights
View a small sample of media highlights from the last year.
Overview of the 2008 Farm Bill
How Rural America Fared in the 2008 Farm Bill
The Future Is Now
A Delaware Corporation pays $52 million for Nebraska Land
Wheels of Fortune
The Centers' 1976 report that spurred debate about irrigation and corporate farming in Nebraska is now online as a PDF.
Who Will Sit Up With The Corporate Sow?
The prophetic 1975 report from the Center is now online as a PDF.
Report: False Reform in the 2007 Farm Bill
An analysis of Congressional payment limits proposals in the 2007 Farm Bill
Report on Rural Development Opportunities
Promising Opportunities: A Fresh Look at Opportunities for Rural Communities
On Farm Energy
Small Farm Energy Primer
Rural Development and the 2008 Farm Bill
Economic Outcomes of Rural Microenterprise Development in the 2008 Farm Bill
Oversubsidizing and Underinvesting
A New Report on Commodity Subsidies and Rural Development
Ag Library Brief
Wind Turbine Considerations: Energy Conservation, Profitability and Ownership
Read the Blog for Rural America | Read our weekly columns
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06/29/2009Farm and ranch operators, like many self-employed Americans, cannot afford the cost of health insurance according to a report by The Access Project.
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06/29/2009Angel Mae Romero-Kiester, a restaurateur from Lyons, Nebraska, recently spent several days in Washington, DC with health care reform advocates from all 50 states. They rallied on Capitol Hill for health care reform. They attended an ABC News moderated conversation with President Obama about the future of America's health care system. And Angel lobbied our Senators and Representatives on the importance of reform, including a public health insurance option, to rural Nebraskans - farmers, ranchers and rural small business owners in particular.
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06/29/2009Sustainable agriculture is described as incorporating more ecologically-sound practices that preserve and renew the nation's soil, water, plant and animal resources through the elimination or reduction of dependence on energy, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Yet often when farmers consider using sustainable practices or modifying their farming practices to make them more sustainable, they are met with discouragement from certain institutions.