The Center for Rural Affairs’ monthly newsletter tells great stories, presents valuable rural research, gives policymakers insight into the challenges rural America faces, and offers you insight into happenings at the highest levels in Washington.

And do I ever have a deal for you. We are practically giving it away.

To highlight the health care issues facing rural people and places, we present The Top 10 Rural Issues for Health Care Reform, the second report in our series examining health care issues in rural America. Rural people and communities face many of the same health care concerns confronting the rest of the nation – exploding heath care costs, large numbers of uninsured and underinsured, and an overextended health care infrastructure. However, we also face many unique challenges.

In a packed church sanctuary last week, 250 constituents of Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI, 3rd) gathered in Eau Claire, WI, to listen to story after heartbreaking story – people with health insurance and without, folks with diabetes and other chronic diseases, small business owners, farmers and nurses.

The Obama Administration proposal to reduce payments to large farms is a significant step in the right direction, but it needs some work. To its credit, the administration calls for a $250,000 limit on total payments.

Center for Rural Affairs staff met in March with Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to discuss a potential fix to USDA regulations on farm payment eligibility adopted in December by the outgoing administration to help family farm corporations.

The Department of Agriculture recently announced the availability of $5 million dollars for the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), a competitive grants program to improve and increase direct farmer-to-consumer marketing. Community-supported agriculture programs, farmers markets, roadside stands, and other direct marketing strategies are supported.

The Center for Rural Affairs’ Sustainable Options Hotline is now available to help farmers and ranchers learn how to access farm bill programs for their operations. For those looking to get a start in agriculture, the Hotline is a great source of information.

Nationwide: Reported by Business Week, Gov. Bill Richardson and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish of New Mexico said rural communities need assistance in securing federal stimulus money.

Denice Swanson, owner of the thriving consignment shop The Drawer in Holdrege, Nebraska, was one my first clients. It was early 2007, and I had just started as a Business Specialist in the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) at the Center for Rural Affairs. When I called her to let her know I was new in town, she was just kicking around the idea of expanding the business she started in 2003.

Anyone who wants economic development ought to begin by building cooperation and trust that forms the core of community. That's a recommendation from university research focused on understanding how citizens engage in practical ways to improve the place where they live.

We spent the last year in the newsletter reflecting on 35 years of work at the Center for Rural Affairs. Since the Center began in 1974, rural America has changed significantly. The number of farms, the farm population, and the overall rural population have all declined. 

Over 525 people gathered in North Platte, Nebraska, on Feb. 25, 2009, for the Center for Rural Affairs’ third annual MarketPlace, an entrepreneurial and small business conference. Entrepreneurs, business owners, service providers, students, teachers, farmers, ranchers and many others of all ages took part. Participants came from 11 states. 

The Nebraska Environmental Action Coalition and the Nebraska Food Cooperative are working together to develop a food distribution service to provide transportation of locally raised and processed food to those who want to purchase it.

The Center for Rural Affairs welcomes Virginia Wolking as our newest rural policy organizer. We also welcome rural research intern Julia Hudson.