States are beginning to receive hundreds of millions from a new $50 billion federal rural health program, but lawmakers and health groups are challenging how the money will be spent.
About 150,000 people work in U.S. dairies. But as of May 22, just 40 people connected to dairy farms had been tested for the bird flu, a virus that has been spreading among cows.
The two are intertwined, yet too often they aren’t viewed that way. Aligning them is a strategy for creating strong rural and Native communities.
American Indians were not granted citizenship by Congress until 1924. A prominent attorney discusses civil rights progress since then.
The Louisiana Department of Health found that 81 percent of the state’s population were serviced with A or B grade water systems. But 115 of the state’s systems, mostly in rural areas, were ranked with a D or F.
The program offered financial incentives to those who were willing to move to the state’s rural areas, places with less than 50,000 residents, in hopes of boosting local economies and combating population decline.
The Panoche Water District allegedly stole 130,000 acre feet of water and redistributed it to farmland across Fresno and Merced counties. Now the feds want retribution but not everyone in the region agrees.
Rural America’s population grew by 108,000 last year. Ninety percent of that growth was in the South.
Bringing fiber infrastructure to rural areas is expensive and time consuming. Wise County, Texas, found a way to deliver high-speed Internet access without wires.
It’s a problem in urban and rural areas alike, but the greatest impact is in cities where it amounts to “food apartheid.” Our best chance of solving it is to get our communities engaged in creating solutions.
In 1999, the natural cause mortality rate for people ages 25 to 54 in rural areas was only 6 percent higher than for city residents of the same age. By 2019, the gap had widened to 43 percent.
Total hired farm labor in the state dropped 23 percent from 2017 to 2022, more than twice the national rate of decline. Migrant farm labor fell even more.
The number of nonprofit news outlets is holding steady but 203 counties are news deserts, leaving thousands of communities without access to local news.
Lawmakers hope grant and loan programs can help small towns keep their markets open.
State lawmakers and local elected officials have spoken out against using farm land in Schoharie County for solar farm projects. The state aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
Adams State University, Fort Lewis College and Western Colorado University are hoping for $3 million per institution from the state to ensure access for students from less populous areas.
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