Blog Posts & Stories

With continued state, federal, and private investments, access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet service is increasing across South Dakota. Recently, Gov. Kristi Noem and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development announced the distribution of up to $27 million as part of the final round of grant funding through ConnectSD, the state’s broadband deployment program.

Rural America is in Jane Yule’s blood. For decades, her family has settled in small towns around Nebraska, and there’s no place she’d rather live. Her love of rural America and continued interest in the Center’s work led Jane to take an active role in the organization.

When James Keeley started farming, all he knew was what he learned gardening in the backyard with his mom. But his limited knowledge didn’t stop him from making agriculture his main focus in life.

Desde el desierto de Nuevo México hasta los campos de Nebraska, Justin Jones ha estado intrigado por la tierra que lo rodea desde que era un niño y continúa aprendiendo de ella hasta el día de hoy.

From the desert of New Mexico to the fields of Nebraska, Justin Jones has been intrigued by the land around him since he was a child, and he continues to learn from it to this day.

Sabemos que puede ser fácil posponer la apertura de una cuenta de negocio o tomar las medidas necesarias para separar las finanzas del negocio de las personales mientras comienza, pero una de las relaciones más importantes que a menudo se pasa por alto es la que usted construye con su banco.

We know it can be easy to put off opening up a business account or taking the necessary steps to separate your business and personal finances as you’re getting started, but one important relationship that often goes overlooked is the one you build with your bank.

Cora Hoffer feels fortunate to grow up surrounded by farming outside Northfield, Minnesota, spending a lot of her childhood helping her dad on her grandparent’s farm where she developed a deep appreciation for the land and the people who worked it.

Members of Congress returned to Washington D.C. to resume business after the August recess. Their progress on the farm bill has been limited as a key date looms.

I want to share some of my early impressions of the Center, and how some of those have evolved over the years. I came to the Center in late 1992, just over 30 years ago, to work on a beginning farmer project. My predecessor left me with a weighty mission: we help people achieve their dreams.

Hello everyone, and happy anniversary! I’m here to speak as a donor. I think I might be here under slightly false pretenses. Why? Because I’m a Center for Rural Affairs baby. My parents were part of the Small Farm Energy Project in 1976 when I was seven.

For the past three years, military veterans and active service members, along with their families, have had the opportunity to explore agriculture through a series of workshops designed to navigate a year in the life of a local farmer who is also a veteran.

Fixing fence on our acreage this spring, my husband and I stumbled over something big hidden in the grass at the pasture’s edge. It took our joint effort to pry it up: a large, spoked metal wheel almost four feet across. It was heavy, but once freed, one person could lift and move it easily. When I glanced back at the ground where the wheel had lain concealed, I was struck by what had bound it so tightly to the earth: grass roots.

For 50 years, the Center for Rural Affairs has worked to strategically align capital so everyone who calls rural American home can fully participate in community and economic life.

El sueño de Eduardo Erazo Cabrera de abrir su propio restaurante comenzó cuando era un niño, cocinando para sus hermanos en El Salvador. Su esposa, Blanca Nieto, también soñaba con tener un negocio en lugar de trabajar para otras personas. Ahora, después de décadas, Eduardo y Blanca han hecho sus sueños realidad.

Eduardo Erazo Cabrera’s dream to open his own restaurant started when he was a young boy, cooking for his siblings in El Salvador. His wife, Blanca Nieto, also dreamed of owning a business instead of working for other people. Now, after decades, Eduardo and Blanca have made their dreams come true.

We are celebrating 50 years of standing up for rural America. We feel incredibly lucky to do the work we do: to have the means to make small business dreams come true, to fight for opportunity and representation for family farmers, to expose inequities, and then to partner with communities to develop innovative solutions.

Jordan Classen and her husband, Travis, recently started their own farming operation, with Travis raising their cattle and Jordan managing their marketing and sales. The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program was able to help Jordan in a time of transition and allowed her to continue to focus on her operation.

Since 1973, one core tenet of the Center for Rural Affairs has been support for family farms and ranchers. This work is at the heart of rural America, and is a core component of the Center’s mission.

Before long, harvest will be upon us. For farmers across the state, this year has been marked by weather events and strains, including drought. Despite their hard work, some farmers may see a decrease in their yields due to these conditions. If this is the case, they may need to rely on their crop insurance to account for the loss.