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Blog Posts & Stories

What's happening with the Center for Rural Affairs? Find the latest on rural America and our work here.

Three people standing in a field. Behind them are lines of solar panels and the people are conversing in conservation
Rhea Landholm
Center for Rural Affairs offers solar loans for communities and businesses
The Center for Rural Affairs now offers community and business solar loans as well as personal solar loans. Community and business solar loans are for construction, to enable investment tax credit safe harboring, and for working capital for qualified solar businesses. These loans are for $100,000 to $3 million and are targeted to serve local businesses, schools, and municipal buildings.
  • Lending
Several adults and several children gathered under a red tent. A sign behind the people reads, "Beatrice Farmers Market"
Liz Stewart
El mercado de agricultores ofrece un espacio donde las personas pueden acceder a alimentos saludables y conectar con quienes los producen
Gracias a cambios en su liderazgo, la ubicación y estructura, el Mercado de Agricultores de Beatrice ha seguido ofreciendo durante los últimos 29 años, un espacio donde los productores locales pueden vender sus productos y donde los miembros de la comunidad pueden reunirse para apoyar a los negocios locales. Cada semana, los vendedores ofrecen productos agrícolas frescos, artículos artesanales elaborados con esmero y mucho más en el mercado ubicado en el centro de Beatrice, Nebraska.
  • Farm and Food
Several adults and several children gathered under a red tent. A sign behind the people reads, "Beatrice Farmers Market"
Liz Stewart
Farmers market offers a place for people to access healthy food and connect with those who grow it
Through leadership, location, and structural changes, the Beatrice Farmers Market has continued to provide a venue for local producers to sell their products and bring community members together to support local businesses for the past 29 years. Vendors offer fresh garden produce, thoughtfully handcrafted items, and more each week at the market in downtown Beatrice, Nebraska.
  • Farm and Food
Woman in a short sleeved, red/orange blouse standing in front of a white door and gray siding. She is smiling warmly and looking into the camera.
Liz Stewart
La propietaria de una guardería sirve a las familias con amor, intención y propósito, afirmando que "invertir en la infancia transforma la sociedad"
La pasión de Esmelda Amarante por el cuidado infantil nació a partir de experiencias vividas en su propia vida. Su hija nació prematura y requirió cuidados intensivos y una estimulación intencional. Desde muy temprano, un neurólogo le explicó a Esmelda que la estimulación podía cambiar el desarrollo y el futuro de su hija. Hoy en día, su hija está prosperando, y Esmelda está firmemente convencida de la importancia del desarrollo en la primera infancia.
  • Lending
Woman in a short sleeved, red/orange blouse standing in front of a white door and gray siding. She is smiling warmly and looking into the camera.
Liz Stewart
Day care owner serves families with love, intention, and purpose, saying ‘investing in early childhood transforms society’
Esmelda Amarante’s passion for child care grew out of experiences from her personal life. Her daughter was born premature, and required intensive care and intentional stimulation. Very early on, a neurologist explained to Esmelda that stimulation could change her daughter’s outcomes. Today, her daughter is thriving, and Esmelda has strong convictions about the importance of early childhood development.
  • Lending
Man and woman stand with their arms around each other, in front of a solar array. They stand in bright green grass with green leafy trees behind.
Val Ankeny
REAP support helps vegetable farm turn sunlight into savings
For one Iowa farmer, a federal energy program helped turn a long-held interest in solar energy into a practical, money-saving investment. Erik Sessions, owner of Decorah-based Patchwork Green, used...
  • Policy
Man with short hair and facial hair smiles at the camera. He is standing in the middle of a soybean field. The beans are leafy green with purple flowers. The man is wearing a collared short sleeve blue shirt.
Nash Leef
Conservation mentor uses practical science to form a soil health playbook
Nathan Mueller knows firsthand that adopting conservation practices is rarely as simple as reading an article or walking into an Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office. It requires trial...
  • Policy
Photo of a one story brown building with tall windows. In the foreground is short green grass. Two flags fly in front of the main door. Above the building is blue sky with white wispy clouds.
Nash Leef
USDA cuts staff: impacts on conservation In Nebraska
In the rolling semi-arid Sandhills of Custer County, Nebraska, conservation is not so much a buzzword as it is a survival strategy. For Clay Govier, a fifth-generation farmer managing 3,500 acres of...
  • Policy
Woman in a short sleeved blue shirt, with pulled back dark hair, and glasses, smiles at the camera. She is standing in front of a beige wall with children toys stacked up behind her. On the wall behind her are colorful numbers, crayons, and letters.
Liz Stewart
Proveedora de cuidado infantil ofrece más opciones para las familias de Grand Island
Melissa Trejo Sorahan no se dio cuenta de la gran necesidad que existía de contar con más centros de cuidado infantil en Grand Island, Nebraska, hasta que tuvo que buscar uno para su propio hijo. Melissa, auxiliar de enfermería certificada y asistente de administración de medicamentos, trabajó en el sector de la salud durante años. Cuando estaba embarazada de su hijo menor, comprobó de primera mano lo difícil que resultaba encontrarun servicio de cuidado infantil de calidad que estuviera disponible durante los turnos nocturnos que con frecuencia debía trabajar en hogares de ancianos.
  • Lending
Woman in a short sleeved blue shirt, with pulled back dark hair, and glasses, smiles at the camera. She is standing in front of a beige wall with children toys stacked up behind her. On the wall behind her are colorful numbers, crayons, and letters.
Liz Stewart
Child care provider offers more options for Grand Island families
Melissa Trejo Sorahan didn’t realize Grand Island, Nebraska, had such a large need for more child care centers until she had to find one for her own child. A certified nursing assistant and medication aide, Melissa worked in health care for years.
  • Lending
Woman with dark red hair wears a black shirt and black pants with a red suit jacket over it. She is standing at a podium with painted white brick walls behind her.
Erin Schoenberg
Meet Center supporter: Adriana Dungan
Center for Rural Affairs donors provide both funding and inspiration to move our work forward. A native of Mexico, Adriana Dungan has worked with the Center as a business development consultant, and...
  • Small Towns
Man and woman standing in a field of longer grass. A black and white dog is in front of them. Solar panels are behind them.
Cora Hoffer
Agrivoltaics is shining light on solar capabilities
Across Minnesota, farmers, landowners, and rural communities are taking a closer look at how solar development can work alongside agriculture instead of competing with it. Agrivoltaics, or dual-use solar, is growing interest as people look for ways to keep land productive, support conservation, and create new opportunities. Agrivoltaics includes beneficial practices such as growing crops beneath panels, grazing livestock on solar sites, and the inclusion of pollinator habitat.
  • Policy
Man with thin hair on his head, dark glasses, and facial hair, wearing a blue polo shirt and khakis stands in a wooded area, smiling at the camera.
Tabitha Kuehn
Rooted in the river: Adam Sears brings a watershed-wide vision to Clear Lake and the Winnebago River
For nearly two decades, Adam Sears has dedicated his career to conservation across northern Iowa, managing public lands, restoring habitat, and overseeing educational programs through his past work with Cerro Gordo County Conservation and Floyd County Conservation. Now, he has taken on a new role as the Clear Lake and Winnebago River Watershed Coordinator, where he will lead efforts to protect and improve the region’s water resources.
  • Policy
Woman with short dark hair, a sunhat, and dark glasses, looking at the camera. She is also wearing a collared pink shirt and beige overalls. In the background is a blue sky and green trees and green grass.
Liz Stewart
Conservation fellow strives to ‘bring joy and purpose to the land’ she tends
Skylar Falter was exposed to new information about the impact of industrial agriculture on both the environment and food systems while in college, and it made her see food and land in a whole new...
  • Farm and Food
Woman with a 3/4 sleeve dark pink shirt with a pocket, looks at the camera. Her hair is pulled back and she's wearing glasses. She stands in front of a wall of hooks for little one's coats and backpacks. Above the hooks is a string of half paper plate bright constructions.
Liz Stewart
‘Cheering them on’: Day care owner discovers ways to support families and her business in rural Nebraska
Like many working parents in rural areas, Sami Powell faced a tough problem. “I was essentially working just to pay for child care,” said Sami, owner of Powell Pack Daycare LLC in Kenesaw, Nebraska.
  • Lending
Woman with a 3/4 sleeve dark pink shirt with a pocket, looks at the camera. Her hair is pulled back and she's wearing glasses. She stands in front of a wall of hooks for little one's coats and backpacks. Above the hooks is a string of half paper plate bright constructions.
Liz Stewart
‘Apoyándolas desde lejos’: Dueña de guardería descubre formas de apoyar a las familias y a su negocio en la zona rural de Nebraska
Como muchos padres que trabajan en zonas rurales, Sami Powell enfrentó un problema difícil. “Básicamente estaba trabajando solo para pagar el cuidado infantil”, dijo Sami, propietaria de Powell Pack Daycare en Kenesaw, Nebraska. “Simplemente no valía la pena para mí cuando podía estar en casa con mis hijos tiempo completo… Al principio decidí abrir una guardería en casa porque era muy caro enviar a mis propios hijos a una guardería”.
  • Lending
A photo looking down the length of a solar panel array. Green grass and a blue, scenic sky.
Heather Sparks
Renewable energy benefits communities, not just developers: three examples from Minnesota
Renewable energy development is growing rapidly in rural communities. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, 70% of U.S. solar built from 2009 to 2020 was in rural...
  • Policy
Two men hold a clear glass award between them, they are smiling and looking at the camera. The man to the left is wearing a dark button down shirt and a red tie. The man on the right is wearing a blue button down shirt. They are standing in an art gallery with large pieces of artwork on the walls behind them.
Rhea Landholm
A lifelong dedication to enhancing rural life: Al Davis receives Center’s Seventh Generation Award
From the pastures of central Nebraska to the halls of the Unicameral, Al Davis has been connected to the Center’s work for more than 50 years. A rancher from Hyannis, Nebraska, who also has an...
  • Small Towns
Man with a bald head and facial hair, wearing a zip up collared black shirt with a red "N" on the left breast, smiles at the camera. He is standing in the middle of a garden with leafy greens and sprouts coming up, with fencing around each plot.
Liz Stewart
Award recipient says, ‘We all benefit when we all have access to fresh, local foods’
A Nebraska native, Ben Jewell has a vision for his home state: He wants to help revitalize rural communities through local food. Ben has dedicated more than a decade to strengthening local and...
  • Small Towns
  • Farm and Food
A photo of a gravel road with green and brown grass in a ditch, and corn rows on the other side of the ditch. Power poles line the corn field, and the corn field is contoured to the poles.
Val Ankeny
Remote communities eligible for microgrid funding and technical assistance
Rural communities looking to improve electricity reliability and affordability may be eligible for support through the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP).
  • Policy