Center Weekly Column
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07/26/2010I hate to say I told you so, but I did. In June, USDA published a new draft rule regarding how meatpackers must deal with farmers and ranchers in the procurement of livestock and poultry. But the packers don't like it and are pitching a fit, just as I said they would.
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07/19/2010Wind energy presents a unique opportunity to create new jobs and increase incomes in rural Nebraska.
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07/12/2010The Nebraska Renewable Energy Fair is upon us. On July 23 and 24, my hometown of Lyons, Nebraska will host the Nebraska Renewable Energy Fair. There are many reasons why teenagers should be excited for such an event, and I thought I would write about my top three reasons why I am looking forward to the Energy Fair.
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07/07/2010On July 23rd and 24th the Renewable Energy Fair will return to Northeast Nebraska. The Center for Rural Affairs sponsored the first Renewable Energy Fair in Hartington, Nebraska in 2008.
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06/28/2010The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is on a dead sprint to meet a major health care reform implementation deadline on July 1, 2010.
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06/21/2010There is good news for farmers and ranchers wanting to participate in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Thanks to the efforts of concerned farmers, the Center for Rural Affairs and National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, farmers who convert their cropland to grazing land will receive higher payment rates than before.
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06/14/2010Meatpackers have given huge volume-based premiums to the largest hog and cattle producers for decades, helping them drive smaller, family farm and ranch livestock producers out of business. USDA has been lackluster in holding packers accountable for this price discrimination and other "sweetheart deals" they provide to the largest livestock producers, despite such treatment being a clear violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
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06/07/2010Two-thirds of school children eat a National School Lunch Program lunch, consuming one-third of their total daily calories from that meal. The food in that meal travels between 2500 and 4000 miles before reaching their plates.
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06/01/2010Millions of acres have and will come out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) between 2008 and 2012. That is why the Center for Rural Affairs fought so hard to establish the Transition Incentive Program (TIP) in the 2008 Farm Bill.
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05/24/2010After a long wait, it finally appears that USDA is poised to roll out the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. It's a new program that will make grants to organizations that provide training, technical assistance or make small loans to new and existing rural small businesses with ten or fewer employees.
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05/017/2010Farmers and ranchers that want to get in on the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) this year have less than a month to apply at their local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office. The CSP rewards farmers, ranchers, and forestry producers for maintaining existing conservation practices and for adopting additional practices on cropland, grassland, improved pasture, rangeland, non-industrial private forestland and tribal lands. A supplemental payment will also be made for those willing to adopt resource conserving crop rotations. This program pays producers for clean water, better soil management, improved habitat, energy efficiency, and other natural resource benefits.
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05/017/2010Energy prices continue to climb, and every day we hear more about global warming. We all want to conserve energy, save money and do better by mother earth, but don't always know where to start.
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05/10/2010Unfortunately, rural small businesses find it increasingly difficult to provide their employees health insurance. Entrepreneurs' hesitancy to leave employment with insurance for their business start-up creates a barrier for rural America's most effective development tool.
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05/03/2010Since the passage of the first Homestead Act in 1862 the cry of "free land" has resonated with Americans hoping to build a better life for themselves and their families. About forty percent of homestead applicants between 1862 and 1934 completed the process and obtained title to their land. Over 1.6 million homesteads were granted, privatizing 270 million acres, approximately 10% of land in the United States.
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04/26/2010I've talked about the need for reforming America's health care system for nearly two decades. Many people have agreed with me over the years, and many have disagreed. I respect and value differences of opinion. It is precisely those differences, and the debate, that gives me hope that health care reform will help move America forward, rural America in particular.
