Center for Rural Affairs' Newsletter

September evokes myriad images: the turn towards autumn, the approaching harvest, a new school year. Perhaps it was growing up on a farm, perhaps it was those years I played football, or all those years that I attended school, but September has always seemed like a time to pause for a moment, take stock of where we have been, and forge ahead into another season.

Only 38 percent of rural Americans have access to a high-speed internet connection, while in urban areas 58 percent of people have access to a high-speed connection. In fact, living in a rural area is a greater indicator than either race or income in predicting access to a high-speed connection. A vibrant future for rural America will require public policy that rectifies this situation.

In Jo Daviess County, Illinois, a particularly disconcerting brand of corporate farming is coming to town. Perhaps I am biased because I know so many dairy farmers in northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin, and northwest Illinois, but I find the location of an 11,000 head (or more) mega-dairy so close to the heart of family farm dairy country is the epitome of adding insult to injury.

The recent bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was justified by claiming they were “too big to fail.” The reason they are “too big to fail” is they are simply too big, and we let them get that way. What should be said, however, is they are too big to continue in their current form.

Small businesses make up the backbone of many rural communities and are a major force in creating jobs. One program within the 2008 Farm Bill that helps start or grow rural businesses is the Rural Business and Industry Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. While not new, this program finances businesses to foster a better economic climate in rural communities.

With a global knowledge-based economy and new emerging drivers to rural economies, high-achieving rural schools are an absolute necessity. Yet there exists little research on how to develop such schools, particularly in economically and demographically challenged rural communities.

In our hometown of Lyons, Nebraska (pop. 950), a relatively strange sight has appeared – young people between the ages of 20 and 30. If you live in a rural community in the Upper Midwest, you know what I’m talking about. In a town of 1,000, it can feel like 900 are either over 60 or under 18.

South Dakota: Cellulosic ethanol will be produced by the ethanol company POET at their 20,000 gallon pilot plant in Scotland, South Dakota, before the end of the year. Fibers from corn kernels and cobs can both be used for cellulosic ethanol, according to POET CEO Jeff Broin. He also added that this type of ethanol production could be very beneficial in making the goal of 36 billion gallons of ethanol production in the America.

All family farmers and consumers have a stake in the raging battle over what it takes to be considered an organic dairy. The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin organization that advocates economic justice for family farmers, has been leading the fight against “corporate organic” mega dairy farms.

Our 35 years of decision making have taught us that good decisions are based on what is best for our local community and beyond, for this generation and future generations. An early meeting with a Sandhills irrigator taught me something I will never forget.

The Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA) assists agricultural Nebraska with its Beginning Farmer/Rancher Program, which offers loans for the purchase of agricultural real and personal property. The new farm bill changed some program limits.

The Center for Rural Affairs’ MarketPlace: Opening Doors to Success conference and the Governor’s Agri/Eco-Tourism Workshop are requesting proposals for local food items to serve at the event luncheons, morning and afternoon snacks, and an evening banquet.

Businesses and organizations have an opportunity to apply for an exhibitor booth at the 2009 MarketPlace: Opening Doors to Success conference. A maximum of 50 booths will be accepted. This is the third year for the conference. It will be held in North Platte, Nebraska at the Sandhills Convention Center, Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

Want to do something about energy, but aren’t sure what? Then come to the Renewable Energy Fair on September 18, 2008 at the Cedar County Fairgrounds in Hartington, Nebraska, and fuel your ideas.

The Center welcomes Steph Larsen as our new rural policy organizer. Before coming to the Center, Steph lived in Washington, DC for three years, directing the policy program at the Community Food Security Coalition.

Health insurance has become a leading obstacle to small business and family farm prosperity. Small business and family farm entrepreneurship are the most promising approaches for creating an economic future in rural communities. But we must overcome the health insurance obstacle.

Toward that end, the Center for Rural Affairs signed on to a set of principles for federal health reform developed by a coalition called Health Care for America Now. The principles stress three points: