Blog Posts & Stories

This is a time of tremendous opportunity in farming and ranching for beginners graduating from college or looking to start a venture of their own. Alternative crops and high value markets offer profit...

​​​​​​​Two bills proposed in the North Dakota house and senate would drastically change the benefits that North Dakotans would see from local wind energy development.

Are you a Nebraska farmer or rancher who can’t get crop insurance for all of your crops? Are you a new Nebraska farmer and don’t know much about how crop insurance works and whether it can work for...

Open Enrollment for plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace is coming to a close, and the deadline to enroll is 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2017. Social media, television and printed press has been flooded with news about the new administration and what’s in store for our nation over the next several years.

Now that you’ve had a chance to recover from the holidays, I want to extend a warm thank you to all of our great donors who have helped to make our end-of-year fundraising efforts the most successful we’ve ever had.

Small business owners need to have information on IRS filings at their fingertips. The IRS provides resources to help make it easier for employers to comply with new filing deadline dates for Form W-2...

Welcome back to the Center for Rural Affairs Unicameral Update. We are returning to provide legislative updates from a rural perspective. The 2017 session is a “long” session – legally mandated to be 90 days in length. The Legislature opened on Jan. 4, 2017, and is tentatively scheduled to adjourn on June 2, 2017.

Access to the internet. The internet is now considered a basic human right; it is how people find employment, handle their finances, receive an education, work, and receive medical care.

Elected representatives in Nebraska and Iowa will debate a host of contentious issues during the 2017 legislative session. Important items to be debated include budget and tax, health care, energy and environment, and food and agriculture. This article is a preview of select topics that will receive our attention.

Iowans are being encouraged to add their two-cents on new regulations aimed at expanding protections for chicken and livestock producers as they deal with processors.

Today, the new administration was officially sworn into office. As a result, we will be facing new challenges and opportunities, and together we must quickly adapt our plans to capitalize on them. We need your help to ensure we are able to fight for a vibrant future for rural America.

Tandy Overstreet of Grant, owner of Prairie Rose Photography, recently took her business to the next level with the addition of an indoor studio.

In the final hours of the Obama administration, USDA released three rules for public comment that would increase protections for poultry and livestock farmers. Meat processors were quick to decry...

This is a time of tremendous opportunity in farming and ranching. Commodity production (undifferentiated crops and livestock sold into “commodity markets”) has minimal profit margin, unpredictable price swings, and many risks for a small, uncapitalized, inexperienced farmer.

Retirement is when the owner departs from labor and management of the farm business. Retirement may not mean moving away or giving up on mentoring the next generation, but it does entail leaving management decisions to someone else.

Retirement is when the owner departs from labor and management of the farm business. Retirement may not mean moving away or giving up on mentoring the next generation, but it does entail leaving management decisions to someone else. It can be a gradual or sudden process. It may be driven by long-term goals, health issues or events outside your family.

Nebraska rings in the New Year faced with a looming revenue shortfall – nearly $900 million heading into the next budget cycle for 2019.

As we close out the year, I wanted to share some reflections on our work. 1. Center staff, board and grassroots supporters are fantastic people - As I crisscross the state and the country visiting...

It's official! The first day of 2017 is here. What better way to kick it off than with a look at our most viewed post in 2016, authored by Brian Depew, our Executive Director. This piece is a...

At an early age, Executive Director Brian Depew learned to care about his community and the world around him. In our second highest viewed post of 2016, Brian shares what we can do to keep our rural...