What's happening with the Center for Rural Affairs? Find the latest on rural America and our work here.
A heartfelt Thank You to the 602 people from Nebraska who completed the fifth biennial Small Business Needs Assessment survey, which was offered both in English and Spanish. We have begun the fascinating work of putting together the responses.
- Lending
Through years of deliberate donations in support of the Center for Rural Affairs, many of you have built your legacy by associating your name with creating a bright and vibrant future for rural America.
- Small Towns
We have exciting news for the 2016-2017 school year. Thanks to the Blooming Prairie Foundation, the Center for Rural Affairs will work one-on-one with four schools to develop and support a network of school greenhouses active in fruit and/or vegetable production.
- Small Towns
In April, Representative Todd Rokita (R-IN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the full House Education and Workforce Committee, introduced H.R. 5003, also known as the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016.
- Small Towns
Our home state of Nebraska has seen significant immigrant growth since the first wave in 1980s, and now has one of the fastest growing Latino populations in the nation. A recent report by the University of Nebraska projects the Latino population will reach 24% of the state’s population by 2050.
- Small Towns
Wind energy is a valuable economic driver for rural communities. New development brings jobs to local areas, providing new customers for local businesses. Projects also provide direct annual payments to landowners who host turbines, giving them a new source of income.
- Policy
We believe a crop insurance program backed by the federal government is an important and necessary component of an effective farm safety net. However, we also believe the current program has problems that need to be fixed to ensure it is actually fostering family-farm agriculture and stewardship of land, water, and communities.
- Farm and Food
That's a question a team of researchers and extension specialists are asking farmers and ranchers in 10 states. Team members are seeking 120 farmers and ranchers to interview about the unique health insurance needs of farm families.
- Policy
Security is important to all of us, personally and as business owners. With critical information provided by customers, it is essential that proper steps are taken to ensure your records and their information are adequately secure.
- Lending
The Clean Power Plan (CPP) is an effort to reduce carbon emissions from energy generation. Here in Nebraska, 2016 was to kick off with a series of public meetings to learn more about the role of energy in our state, where that energy comes from, and what residents wanted our energy future to look like.
- Policy
There is so much to discover in Nebraska’s small towns. The Santee Sioux Reservation, located east of Niobrara, is filled to the brim with talented artists and craftspersons, entrepreneurs, and some of the most beautiful landscapes.
- Small Towns
Where you live should not determine how long you live. New research shows it does. Americans have enjoyed increasingly longer lives over time. Advances in medicine, a decline in fatal car accidents...
- Small Towns
The Transitional Health Insurance Program, LB 1032, failed to pass this year. But that doesn’t change the fact that nearly 100,000 Nebraskans still do not have a solution.
- Policy
Recently a new loan officer in a small rural bank reached out to me, wondering what training I could recommend for her. It´s refreshing to get a question like that. A lender who shows curiosity in...
- Farm and Food
Last week, Governor Ricketts vetoed LB 947, which would allow young Nebraskans who were brought here as children and call this state home to hold professional and occupational licenses.
- Small Towns
Nebraska relies heavily on coal to generate electricity in the state, even though we rank 4th in the nation for wind energy potential and 13th for solar power potential. These resources could easily play a larger role in our energy portfolio.
- Policy
Sheldon Station is an aging coal-fired power plant constructed in 1958 near Hallam, Nebr. Sheldon Station is the biggest polluter in Lancaster County and changing environmental regulations make...
- Policy
What happens when 20 to 80 food service staff comes together for training and networking with farmers? Good food, good conversation and lots of good connections – to ideas and to one another.
- Small Towns
The results are in: Farm to School in early care and education builds healthy kids with bright futures. In 2015, the National Farm to School Network surveyed early care and education providers across the country.
- Small Towns
“Would my husband and I automatically move into town so the next generation can move in?” asked a farmer. “And what would be our plans for our farm if our children will run it as ‘absentee landlords’...
- Farm and Food
