Summertime is full of fun and activity. Between family gatherings and abundant growth of crops and gardens, the sights and sounds of Rural America move me.

A critical component of the new federal health care reform law is expanded health insurance coverage – which should lead to improved health outcomes through better access to affordable and timely medical care.

Many Center for Rural Affairs supporters are farmers, ranchers, or small business owners who operate their enterprise as a sole proprietorship, rather than an incorporated business. The new health care law impacts sole proprietors and their families differently than it impacts incorporated businesses.

On June 22, 2010, USDA published a new draft rule regarding how meatpacking corporations must deal with farmers and ranchers in the procurement of livestock and poultry. It's not perfect, but it is the most aggressive livestock market reform to come out of Washington since the passage of the Packers and Stockyards Act itself. The rule will breathe some life and some competition back into our livestock markets.

The West Virginia Attorney General is investigating whether Monsanto’s promotion of Roundup Ready II soybeans involves deceptive claims, according to The State Journal of Charleston, West Virginia.

Wind energy presents a unique opportunity to create new jobs and income in rural communities. So we’re disappointed in the strident opposition of Nebraska’s Rural Electric Association to federal legislation to create a 20 percent Renewable Electricity Standard. Whether or not you are from Nebraska, please read on so as not to be misled by opponents of a proactive approach to developing our own renewable energy sources.

The U.S. Senate will debate energy and climate legislation in the coming months. Rural people and small communities would benefit from new jobs, an increased tax base and payments to landowners if the legislation sets a strong Renewable Electricity Standard.

We received more reader feedback from our article calling for fair compensation to landowners who get power lines to move wind generated electricity from the Plains to population centers.

North Dakota: When the Roxy Theater in Landon, North Dakota (pop. 2000), was revived and re- opened by community volunteers the small town gained a meeting place, where people come not only to see a movie but to “see-and-be-seen.” The old movie theater revival is not confined to North Dakota, with movie theaters re-opening in small towns from Maine to New Mexico.

Here is some information provided by the 3/50 project, encouraging purchases from independently owned businesses.

Just how difficult would it be to identify a rural community? Aw, come on, that is easy. On the other hand, is it? A recent Google search of rural community definition provided me with 2,080,000 results. In a way, this did not surprise me. I did not search too deep into the omnipotent internet.

The committee tasked with agriculture spending in the U.S. House doubled annual funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) competitive grants program from $15 to $30 million for 2011. The Senate committee offered a smaller boost from $15 to $23 million.

A new pre-application process for two popular rural development programs has been announced by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. DED is offering to pre-screen grant applications for the Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act (BECA) and the Agricultural Opportunities and Value- Added Agriculture (VAA) program.

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet has filed an amendment to the US Senate Small Business Jobs Bill to create a 35 percent investment tax credit for rural microenterprises and beginning farmers and ranchers.

The Center for Rural Affairs is co-hosting this year’s Midwest Rural Assembly with more than a dozen other organizations in the region. The Assembly brings together community leaders to turn innovative ideas into real action.