Blog Posts & Stories

2019 is on track to be the second or third warmest year on record at a time when some Iowa farmers still are dealing with extreme spring flooding and five years of falling income.

America’s agricultural history spans generations. Some of the family farms still in operation today have been feeding our neighbors for more than 100 years, and will continue to do so for the...

Himelda Lomeli siempre quiso ser su propia jefa. Después de trabajar en la industria de la cosmetología desde 1992, ahora tiene la independencia que tanto deseaba.

Plains states have faced more weather-related catastrophes during seven months in 2019 than entire previous years combined. Flooding has been a major issue for many people, especially residents of...

Himelda Lomeli has always wanted to be her own boss. After working in the cosmetology industry since 1992, she now has the independence she craved.

Dongwen Wang knows numbers—she’s so good with figuring out finances that she’s made a career out of it. Currently an accounting associate with the Center for Rural Affairs, Dongwen started with the...

Consolidation of companies in the food system has had negative impacts for rural communities. One detriment is lack of choice and higher prices for farmers when purchasing inputs, as fewer and fewer...

The Center for Rural Affairs prides itself on bringing communities together through innovation, stewardship, and community development. By connecting with individuals who make extraordinary...

Farmers and ranchers with expiring contracts with the Conservation Reserve Program, or who are interested in enrolling land in the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) should take note of an...

In 2015, a working group gathered to talk about the challenges Nebraska food consumers and producers alike face, and how to best address them.

Tomas Delacruz lives north of Macy, Nebraska, where his two acres of land host an ever-expanding garden. Growing up in Mexico, Tomas and his family harvested chilies and peppers. Now, living in...

Born and raised on a cattle ranch near a small town in southeastern Idaho, Anna Pratt learned to drive on country back roads, charged purchases to a tab at local farm supply stores, and took part in...

Those interested in beekeeping have a new learning opportunity. The Center for Rural Affairs and University of Nebraska-Lincoln are partnering to offer Great Plains Master Beekeeping, a regional...

Deb and Curtis Lockwood have lived and worked in the Fremont, Nebraska, area for most of their lives. They raised children, welcomed grandchildren, and began to plan for a comfortable retirement. As far as anyone could see, they were living the American dream.

Since 2015, Suzi French has been a valuable member of the Center for Rural Affairs team, and, recently, she just became even more of an asset to the Center’s work. As a community foods associate...

Nebraska’s 2019 legislative session closed with the last day of May, adjourning five days early. This early adjournment was met with contention as a substantive solution to the state’s reliance on property tax to fund K-12 education was again left unresolved.

Anyone who has invested in a distributed generation system will freely admit that the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. This atmospheric reality can make it difficult for producers to rely exclusively on distributed energy. To overcome intermittency, system owners can choose to ration their energy use, invest in battery storage, or remain connected to the electric grid.

Economic opportunity is vital to rural communities. Although poultry and livestock production is integral to rural economies, decades-long shifts in the poultry and livestock industry have pushed many...

Connecting rural Nebraskans to new economic development opportunities is a key piece of the long-term health of our small towns and communities. The Center is opposed to LB 373 because it would remove local control from Nebraskans and limit economic opportunities for rural communities.

When I was a kid, my mother always told me I was a “good mix of good things.” It was the kind of sweet phrase that someone tells a child to boost their confidence. Sometimes, she meant it to say I was a good mix of traits from both of my parents. Other times, she would use it to pick me up when I was down—like on the many occasions that I tried, and failed, at a new sport; “you’re a good mix of a lot of good things, this just isn’t one of them.”