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Commercial property assessed clean energy, or C-PACE, is a financing tool that creates opportunities for businesses and nonprofits to make clean energy improvements to their properties. Adopting this...
- Policy
In 2017, 18 percent of Minnesota’s energy needs were met by wind energy, with 3,699 megawatts installed across the state. Nearly every wind turbine contributes tax revenue to the local community where it operates, with the contributions of installed wind energy capacity totaling $12.7 million across 27 counties in 2018.
- Policy
Today, a vast amount of land in the U.S. is owned by those over 65 years old. Some have made their wishes clear for the future of their property. Others are courting family upheaval by not planning in concrete ways.
- Farm and Food
The Nebraska Legislature has the opportunity to put rural communities on a level playing field with the state’s metro areas. LB 549, introduced this session, would make important investments in broadband service mapping across the state.
- Small Towns
Nick Bergin is a big believer in superheroes. As a child, he lost himself in the fantasies written of those possessing powers beyond this world. Today, he searches for new kinds of superpowers—those...
- Small Towns
Grocery stores are a staple on rural main streets across the country. They provide fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, staple food items, and even cleaning supplies, toiletries, and over-the-counter...
- Small Towns
Gladys Godinez seeks out opportunities, and constantly strives to make a difference with her work—which has led to her receiving the Special Recognition Award for “outstanding vital contribution to...
- Small Towns
From Omaha to the Panhandle, broadband access impacts every Nebraskan. From training a 21st century workforce to growing small business investment and supporting the state’s agricultural producers, our connection to broadband Internet has become a defining factor of our quality of life.
- Lending
- Small Towns
Nebraskans spend $4.4 billion on food annually, but only 10 percent of that money is spent on food grown in the state, according to a new report from the Center for Rural Affairs and the Nebraska Food Council.
- Small Towns
Farmers are used to adjusting for weather, but some are adjusting for climate change by planting a variety of crops, sowing cover crops and leaving land unplowed.
- Farm and Food
Before moving back to the family farm outside Juniata, in Adams County, my husband and I lived in rural southwest Iowa.
- Lending
- Small Towns
The clothing industry has been calling to Evelyn Vasquez since she was 18 years old. So, when the right opportunity presented itself, she seized the moment, and has spent the last five years growing and building her business to meet the needs of customers and the community.
- Lending
- Small Towns
The majority of people in the Omaha Nation express a desire for greater local access to fresh produce, according to a report released by the Center for Rural Affairs and the Omaha Nation community....
- Small Towns
Climate change can be difficult to fully wrap your mind around. My fear is that more people will engage only after facing a crisis themselves—losing a home due to flooding, markets upended by multi-year droughts, water shortages, etc.
- Policy
You may have heard that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) now functions under the purview of the Agricultural Marketing Service, but that’s not all.
- Farm and Food
Though he’s only been farming for around 10 years, agriculture is in Eric Thalken’s blood. Originally from Ogallala, Nebraska, Eric spent part of his childhood in The Cornhusker State, and part of it in The Keystone State—Pennsylvania.
- Farm and Food
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a joint letter encouraging market-based, collaborative approaches to reduce excess nutrients in waterways. But, few other details were offered on how to best take this approach.
- Policy
Adverse possession is a common law principle that dates back to 2000 B.C. The legal principle was mentioned in 5,046 cases in the United States between 1960 and 2015. During the same time period, there were 176 cases in Nebraska that cited adverse possession.
- Farm and Food
Justino Borja’s tenacity grows from deep roots. He comes from Mexico, a family of farmers, and a history of working the land. No doubt, that’s where Justino developed his determination and his love for family and land.
- Farm and Food
An overreliance on faulty data may be leaving thousands of rural Nebraska households out of the digital age. Twice per year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collects broadband access data through Form 477 from internet service providers. This data has a host of problems and can severely overestimate broadband access.
- Small Towns
