What's happening with the Center for Rural Affairs? Find the latest on rural America and our work here.
This is a time of tremendous opportunity in farming and ranching for beginners looking to start a venture of their own. Alternative crops and high value markets offer profit potential and lower risk...
- Farm and Food
Below is correspondence that we've received recently and wanted to share with you. Feel free to send us a note at [email protected] or PO Box 136, Lyons, NE 68038. "Thanks for the work you do. Wish you...
- Small Towns
Five miles north of Pierce, Nebraska, sits the 80-acre farm where Denice Hansen was raised. After spending her childhood working cow/calf pairs, feeder cattle, and growing row crops and garden...
- Farm and Food
As we reflect on how the session played out this year, we see some wins, including funding for broadband, rural infrastructure, and water and soil conservation programs, as well as expanded free school meals for students.
- Policy
On March 5, the House Committee on Agriculture passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, taking the first step in yet another attempt to pass new farm bill legislation.
- Farm and Food
A strong electrical backbone is needed to deliver electricity across the nation. To keep up with the pace of increasing electricity demand and maintain a resilient grid, it is crucial that efforts are...
- Policy
The Tyson Foods beef plant in Lexington is a long, squat building about a mile south of US Highway 30. While the meat processor is physically on the town’s far south side, it has been at the heart of...
- Small Towns
- Farm and Food
- Policy
Aunque cerca del 19% de la población de Fremont, Nebraska (más de 5,000 personas) es latina, hasta hace poco la zona carecía de guarderías que ofrecieran servicios específicos para estas familias.
- Lending
- Small Towns
Even though close to 19% of the population of Fremont, Nebraska—over 5,000 people—is Latino, until recently, the area lacked day cares that provided services specific to those families.
- Lending
- Small Towns
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program is helping producers turn raw commodities into value-added products, allowing more of the income to remain in rural communities. The Value-Added...
- Farm and Food
- Policy
Minnesota native Nolan Lemna has always thought of himself as a city kid with a farmer’s heart. Even though both of his parents left their family farms to pursue other opportunities, Nolan felt drawn...
- Farm and Food
Your voice is needed to make sure Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) funds are distributed and used according to their original intent. NET is a tremendous asset to our rural communities, using...
- Policy
From the operating room to caring for a room full of children, Mikaela Wolfe knows how to thrive in a fast-paced environment. For 13 years, Mikaela worked as a surgical technologist, then transitioned...
- Small Towns
While the presence and actions of federal agents in Minnesota’s Twin Cities are a high-profile national news story, federal agents are active in small cities and rural communities across the country...
- Small Towns
More than 60 passionate local elected officials, agency staff, and stakeholders convened to uplift the work facilitated by Watershed Management Authorities (WMAs) in Iowa on Nov. 12, 2025. Hosted at...
- Policy
Throughout the nation, communities highly vulnerable to climate impacts have an opportunity to strengthen their adaptation and resilience efforts through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI...
- Small Towns
- Policy
Rural Iowa schools are deeply committed to maintaining quality education, but they must continually navigate the fiscal pressures of shrinking enrollment and stagnant local tax bases. In some counties...
- Policy
Name two things that shouldn’t work together, but actually make a great pair. Think French fries and a milkshake, wearing seemingly opposing prints together like stripes with polka dots, or kittens...
- Farm and Food
As donations to the Center arrive at the end of the year, many of you send short notes along with your gifts. These words of encouragement and connection add such pep to our step. I want to share...
- Small Towns
El proceso democrático es algo que enorgullece a Estados Unidos y uno que requiere la participación de las personas para poder prosperar. Si bien, el proceso para las contribuciones públicas varía según el estado, existe un punto en común: los legisladores necesitan escuchar directamente a sus electores sobre temas que les importan.
- Policy
