Blog Posts & Stories

I don’t usually reflect much on the abundant amenities of where I live. Generally I take the wide open spaces, fresh air, breathtaking sunsets, and a million other things (all of which I deeply cherish) for granted.

From August to October, the Center for Rural Affairs organized and co-hosted a series of town hall events that connected about 120 Nebraskans with their elected officials. These events were designed to engage Nebraska state senators in discussions with their constituents over struggles over 240,000 Nebraskans who live below the poverty line face in their daily lives.

Giving Tuesday is a one day, worldwide online fundraiser. It’s a day of giving back after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We had great success during last year’s Giving Tuesday, and this year we’re...

Preliminary census data is out on Farm to School, and the news is good! Figures for school year 2013-2014 show strong farm to school programs mean:

There’s another Husker season to get ready for – the reconvening of the 2016 Nebraska Legislature, which takes place on January 6, 2016. Important issues to be debated include closing the health care coverage gap, reforming taxes, protecting independent livestock producers, and developing renewable energy.

We are putting a stake in the ground on federal crop insurance and the need for reform. One of our greatest concerns is land access, based on what we’ve heard for years across the Midwest and Great Plains.

The year was 2009 and as always, history seemed to repeat itself. This was evident to Ric Camacho Sr; just a year before he was employed by a large construction and mechanical firm. He worked for a company that was now busy eliminating departments and reducing jobs, including his.

SCORE has worked very successfully with the Center in Nebraska to jointly help entrepreneurs succeed. SCORE is a 50+ year old not-for-profit, 501(c)3, resource center of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Our mission is to help entrepreneurs succeed in starting small businesses and in growing their small businesses.

An important vote is coming as early as next Tuesday, November 3, 2015. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on S. 1140, which would halt the Obama Administration’s near-final rulemaking to clarify longstanding Clean Water Act protections for millions of wetlands and headwater streams that contribute to the drinking water of one in three Americans.

October's Farm to School Month has been a great success. Happily, anyone interested in learning how to do Farm to School can access information anytime, anywhere with our webinar series.

This week, the White House and Congressional leaders struck a tentative budget deal. The deal provides a framework and the additional funding needed to allow Congress to complete the annual appropriations funding legislative process.

Nebraska farmer Martin Kleinschmit was among 12 people recognized as a Champion of Change for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack welcomed them to a White House...

We kicked off our first of three Farm to School webinars by listening to three Nebraska food service staff. They were rock stars as they shared how and why they have participated in local food procurement and farm to school activities.

Small businesses continually seek surefire ways to grow. But there is no one answer for where and how to advertise, how much to spend, or how to reach the people who are your most likely prospects. All of these depend on where you are, what you do, your position in the marketplace, and the types of problems you solve for your customers.

Stephanie Bertagnoli once said she would never move back to Nebraska. After growing up on a conventional farm in Utica she left for Colorado Christian University near Denver, where she met her husband Tim, a “city boy.” She thought that’s where they would stay, until one day when she was driving home to Nebraska during calving season.

It's here! The #1 report in our countdown of the Top 10 Rural Research Reports. It would be hard to overstate the importance of this early research to the Center for Rural Affairs. The report foretold the future of livestock production, not just in Nebraska, but nationwide.

Rural people sell themselves short when it comes to the art and culture that exists in our communities. Too often we head to the city to take in our fill of culture. Last year I visited a rural arts...

A few weeks ago, a colleague asked me why Latino micro entrepreneurs focus on retail or construction businesses instead of developing other ideas. As a loan specialist who works directly with Latino businesses, my immediate thought was, I see more than retail.

In the next-to-last post from our Top 10 Rural Research Reports countdown, we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Today's Throwback Thursday (#tbt) report showed how practical on-farm research should be done. And in the doing, it planted leadership seeds of the national sustainable agriculture movement.

About a year ago, I wrote about the Minnesota-Iowa transmission line. It's one of several projects in the Midwest to improve the electric grid and provide new inroads for renewable energy.