Center Weekly Column

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  • 02/01/2010
    I love calling Craig, Nebraska (population 220) home. I don't mind going without the conveniences of big city life, but some services are central to survival in rural Nebraska - like medical care.
  • 02/02/2010
    Livestock markets don't work. I should say they don't work for family farmers and ranchers - meatpackers don't have any complaints.
  • 01/26/2010
    It's an old joke - laws and sausages are two things no one should ever see made.
  • 01/12/2010
    On January 6, USDA announced their decision to retain a massive loophole in farm payment limit rules that will continue to allow annual taxpayer-funded checks of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars to inure to single farming operations - subsidy checks the nation's largest farms use to drive their smaller neighbors out of business.
  • 01/05/2010
    I'm certain most everyone has already written down their New Year's resolutions.
  • 12/29/2009
    USDA Rural Development will host a video conference from 10:00 a.m. to noon (CST) on January 8th at eight sites across Nebraska.
  • 12/22/2009
    In the early hours of Monday, December 21st, the U.S. Senate voted, 60 to 40, to invoke cloture and bring the Senate health care reform debate to a close.
  • 12/15/2009
    A small grocery store anchors one end of Main Street in the town the Center for Rural Affairs calls home.
  • 12/08/2009
    Skyrocketing health care costs are undermining the foundations of the rural economy - self-employment and small business.
  • 12/01/2009
    Students at Cody-Kilgore High School, Cody, Nebraska (population 149), wanted to start a community-owned grocery store.
  • 11/23/2009
    Nebraskans love their football. Go Huskers! And it's not just college ball - hometown high school teams receive outstanding support, as well.
  • 11/16/2009
    I am a lifelong resident and livestock farmer from Belgrade, Nebraska. Over the past 50 years, I have watched the population of Nance County decline.
  • 11/09/2009
    The first round of grant recipients for the new USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program includes organizations doing truly inspiring work with beginning farmers and ranchers.
  • 11/02/2009
    The media often suggests that rural people do not support congressional action to fix America's health care system. With critical votes approaching in Washington, that claim should be examined.
  • 10/26/2009
    Are you afraid of starting your own business or expanding a current business because you don't know where to turn to find resources and connections? Maybe you want to try a new venture in your ranching/farming operation, but the task seems too haunting.