Reports & Publications

During the last farm bill debate, we heard Congressional leaders say, farmers don’t get a check, they get a bill for their crop insurance. While that statement may be true, it’s also true that crop insurance is heavily subsidized, providing unlimited premium subsidies to the nation’s largest and...

This issue brief anchored a project to create a food policy council for Nebraska. It is intended to get you thinking about the opportunities and challenges to be faced in developing food policy councils. The data is Nebraska-specific, but you can use the structure and ideas to tackle the same quest in your location.

During the debate over the 2014 Farm Bill, members of Congress touted the saving to taxpayers that would result from doing away with direct payment to farmers, replacing it with an insurance like farm program, and having federally subsidized crop insurance take over the role of providing a safety...

On April 1, 2015, Dr. Allan Jenkins, Professor of Economics at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Dr. Ron Konecny, Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, released "Nebraska Medicaid Expansion: Protecting a Critical Infrastructure, Supporting Main Street, Improving...

On April 1, 2015, Dr. Allan Jenkins, Professor of Economics at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Dr. Ron Konecny, Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, released "Nebraska Medicaid Expansion: Protecting a Critical Infrastructure, Supporting Main Street, Improving...

In this report, we outline best practices for developing local and regional food systems in the state. First-hand information came from interviews we conducted with individuals, organizations, and institutions involved in the production, marketing, and usage of local food. They are documented...

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is an example of a social safety net, anti-poverty effort, the usage of which varies by place of residence. This brief uses data from the Internal Revenue Service on usage of the EITC, and compares overall usage with U.S. Census Bureau geographic classifications...

A review of recent data shows that a significant number of households across the nation received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) benefits. Large numbers of households in metropolitan, small city, and rural areas received SNAP benefits. This brief uses...

This Brief is part of a series examining socio-economic aspects of the 2010 Census for the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest. This is the third in a series of briefs examining data from the 2010 Census.

This brief will examine the age distribution of the region, an important short and long-term demographic and social and economic issue. This is the second in a series of briefs examining data from the 2010 Census.

A robust electric grid is vital to the health of any economy. Successful improvement of the decades-old infrastructure already in place will enhance reliability, allow for the seamless integration of renewable resources and account for heightened electricity demand. This effort will open the door to...

Data from the 2010 Census show that rural areas in the Great Plains and Midwest continue to lose population, while smaller cities and metropolitan areas continue to expand.

This report highlights selected data from the 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture on several aspects of Latino farmers and ranchers in Missouri and Nebraska. These data provides a broader view of the current status of Latino farmers and ranchers in both states. Summary of data...

The local grocery store is an integral institution of rural communities and in rural life. Not only does the local grocery store provide the sustenance of life, it fills the roles of economic driver, community builder, employer and meeting place. Unfortunately, many rural communities across the...

Health care in rural communities has many aspects – access to physicians, dentists, nurses, and mental health services; the financial circumstances of rural hospitals; federal rules concerning Medicare reimbursement rates and the impact on rural hospitals and healthcare professionals; and the...

"Swept Away: Chronic Hardship and Fresh Promise on the Rural Great Plains" describes the economic conditions of agriculturally-based communities in the six-state region of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. We identified 182 counties (of 503) throughout this region as...

"Trampled Dreams: The Neglected Economy of the Rural Great Plains" describes the economic conditions of small agricultural communities as compared to other urban and metropolitan areas in a six-state region comprised of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Based on the...

The "Small Schools" series of articles began as a response to the public statements of some legislators, metropolitan school board members, and others about the need to eliminate small, rural schools. They said small schools are “inefficient,” and take away too many resources (i.e., public aid to...

The old timers used to say that when clouds took the shape of mares' tails or mackerel scales, a storm would soon strike. Although weather forecasting is more technical today, it might not be much more accurate, especially if so-called ''greenhouse gas'' emissions destabilize the climate and increase the uncertainty of weather events. The prospect of more erratic and perhaps more violent weather patterns is especially troublesome to farmers, whose livelihoods are traumatized by unstable agronomic conditions. Mares tails and mackerel scales spell trouble on the farm.

This is the final report of a task force on Nebraska tax reform. It was commissioned by the Center for Rural Affairs and published in January 1992. The task force found that Nebraska's tax system suffered from three major faults: Nebraska depends too heavily on property tax. It provided 46 percent...