Blog Posts & Stories

A financial projection is an estimate of your business’s budget for at least a year (two years, ideally), and it serves as part of your business plan. By reviewing your actual financials against your projections, you can be sure your business is moving in the right direction.

Even though Iowa’s climate only allows for a limited growing season, Tiffiny Clifton and Matt Johnson are confident they can sell locally grown food year round. They started their farm in July 2020, as a diverse, sustainable, and regenerative operation. The farm is transitional with the intention to be organic certified.

Offering tax credits for scholarships to private schools has been a controversial issue in Nebraska. After tax-credit bills failed to pass in 2020 and 2021, this year the Opportunity Scholarships Act was signed into law.

Con el sueño de abrir un negocio y el impulso de contribuir financieramente a su hogar, Cristina Hernández realizo su deseo al abrir Chilangos Mexican Pizza.

With a dream to open a business and the drive to contribute financially to her household, Cristina Hernandez was finally able to make it a reality with Chilangos Mexican Pizza.

Fifty years ago, founders of the Center for Rural Affairs knew that if they wanted policy to work for rural Americans, they had to raise their voices and grow a grassroots community.

Growing up on my family’s 60-cow dairy farm in northeast Iowa shaped me into the person I am today. As a high school girl, my interest to stay invested in dairy was probably a bit out of the ordinary, but also complementary to my life experiences.

From singing in U.S. Air Force choirs to owning businesses together, Theo and Bonnie Ramsey have come a long way since they met.

Abbie and Bob Kauffman have lived in Plattsmouth for a year and a half. They have a dream to one day buy land and establish their own farm operation. To learn more about farming, Abbie decided to attend “A Year in the Life,” a workshop hosted for the past three years by the Center.

For beginning farmers and ranchers to be successful, they must be able to manage risk. One of the tools available to them is crop insurance, a series of federal programs that protect in the case of crop, livestock, or revenue loss.

Here's an update on how state legislatures addressed carbon pipeline bills, and what that means going forward.

Farmers markets have always focused on selling fresh produce, meats, and baked goods. Over the years, vendor types have expanded to include food trucks, children's activities, student-led businesses, artists, and musicians.

The Minnesota Legislature further confirmed the state's commitment to addressing climate issues with the passage of two climate and energy-related bills.

For the past decade, the media has been obsessed with the idea of a growing divide between rural and urban areas, often portraying it as a deep chasm separating the nation's citizens. The Center's Executive Director, Brian Depew takes a look at the rural-urban divide.

While there is debate about when the next farm bill will be finalized, one thing is certain—farm bill discussions are in full swing in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, lawmakers reached an agreement to suspend the debt ceiling, allowing them to refocus their efforts on writing the next farm bill.

Many people would agree with Candi Benge that there’s just something better about fresh foods when people can buy them locally, straight from the farmer. Candi also firmly believes everyone should...

Wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects offer a significant opportunity to revitalize rural communities and diversify the local economy. Increased tax revenue from renewable energy projects enables school districts, cities, and other entities to address local emergency services and infrastructure improvement needs while reducing the local tax burden.

In 2013, Iowa leaders, experts, and stakeholders came together to create a plan to prioritize water quality with the goal of reducing harmful nutrients in water from various sources. A decade later, we can celebrate the work that has been accomplished with the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) but also acknowledge there is more work to do.

As a child, I wanted to be a veterinarian or zoologist when I grew up. However, after taking a few particularly complex science and math courses, I realized it would be difficult to make that happen...

Tyler Bartley and his business partner, Jeremy Davis, began their farming journey with the simple idea of bringing the best food they could to the people they love most: their families, friends, and local community.