Rural news bits from Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma, the Midwest, Illinois, North Carolina, and Kentucky Wisconsin: They are calling it the brain-drain boomerang. New research shows that although Wisconsin still suffers an overall loss of college-educated residents, the drain is mostly among graduates in their 20s. The state has net gains among college grads in their 30s and 40s. As graduates began to start families, quality of life and strong community begins to outweigh factors that originally drew young adults away from the state. Rural communities stand to benefit from this boomerang effect.
Utah: The Utah-based Western Governors University offers a fully accredited, online program for teacher education. Now, with the help of the U.S. Department of Labor, they are offering scholarships to interested applicants who reside in rural areas and want to become math or science teachers in rural areas. Current teachers can also receive scholarships to pursue Master’s degrees. The program is an effort to address shortages of math and sciences teachers across the rural U.S.
Oklahoma: The state Attorney General is suing large out-of-state poultry producers who locate facilities in Oklahoma. The facilities contribute to water pollution in the state, and the Attorney General argues that states need more legal tools to help stop and clean up animal waste pollution. The lawsuit includes Tyson Foods Inc.
Midwest: Traditionally home to family-sized dairy operations, the Midwest is seeing more very large dairies and fewer family-sized dairies with each passing year. First appearing in the Western U.S. in the 1970s, large dairies with herds of 1,000 to 2,000 cows or larger are spreading eastward in greater numbers.
Illinois: A program at the University of Illinois, Rural Medical Education Program, is training family practitioners who plan to practice in rural Illinois. Students receive training in rural health care issues, family medicine, community-oriented primary care, and a 16 week rural-based practicum. The program was created in 2000 to help meet the health care needs of rural Illinois.
North Carolina: The state faces a “hay shortage emergency” after a year of dry weather that has driven down hay production in the state. Shallow wells that many rural North Carolinians rely on for water are also drying up.
Kentucky: The Kentucky Attorney General filed comments recently asking the courts to block the proposed acquisition of Delta & Pine Land Company by Monsanto Inc. Delta & Pine Land Company produces cotton and soybean seeds, including genetically engineered varieties. Monsanto is already estimated to control between 80 percent and 98 percent of biotechnology in corn, soybeans, and cotton. Kentucky joins Arkansas, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia in challenging the acquisition.
Contact: Brian Depew,
briand@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1015, for more information on our new Across the Nation column.
Dakota Rural Action has been a close ally of the Center for Rural Affairs since the South Dakota grassroots organization was established. In particular, Dakota Rural Action is a key ally in South Dakota on livestock market reforms, beginning farmer and rancher initiatives and on anti-corporate farming laws. Visit them online today. 
