A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky.
Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.
A look inside Amazon's 17,000-square-foot Missoula facility. (Photo by Eric Dietrich, Montana Free Press)
Amazon is betting that its rural hub expansion plans will help it increase sales and delivery services to its more remote-living customers while lessening its dependence on the U.S. Postal Service, reports Sean McLain of The Wall Street Journal. The company "aims ultimately to have 200 rural delivery hubs serving around 13,000 ZIP Codes covering around 1.2 million square miles of America — an area the size of Texas, California and Alaska combined."
By opening rural hubs, Amazon hopes to "reduce its reliance on the U.S. Postal Service, a relationship that has become rocky following a dispute over contract terms," McLain writes. The company has also used United Parcel Service to complete the final leg of deliveries, which hasn't always gone smoothly either. "In 2013, a sudden surge in Amazon orders overwhelmed UPS, causing some packages to not make it in time for Christmas."
Residents in Conner, Montana, who used to wait about a week for their packages to arrive, are already reaping the benefits of speedy deliveries from the rural hub Amazon built on the outskirts of Missoula. Now most Conner-bound packages arrive within Amazon's traditional two-day window. McLain adds, "Around 14,000 packages leave the [Missoula] warehouse on an average day."
Rural Amazon routes require delivery drivers to carefully plan and be ready to handle extreme weather, big horn sheep, dirt or mud roads, high winds and mountain passes. McLain reports, "Deliveries to the Missoula warehouse come from a large urban hub in Spokane, Wash., a three-hour drive across two mountain passes."
Despite backcountry travel and weather challenges, Amazon plans to "construct around 40 to 50 new delivery hubs a year," McLain reports. At that pace, the company should "be able to ship packages to every U.S. ZIP Code in four years."
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, center, meets in January with governors and representatives of the seven Colorado
River basin states.(Department of the Interior photo)
As negotiations among seven Western states stall over how to share the drying Colorado River, complex water negotiation experts Karen Schlatter and Sharon B. Megdal, writing for The Conversation, believe there is a path to end the deadlock and begin meaningful discussions that could lead to a water division agreement.
Right now, the states are divided into subgroups "based on whether they are in the river’s Upper Basin – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – or the Lower Basin, which includes Arizona, Nevada and California," Schlatter and Megdal explain. "Each basin group holds strong positions and has generally been unwilling to shift."
Schlatter and Megdal point out that the Colorado River water conflicts seem like a battle because they are. The Colorado River negotiations include "all five of the most common sources of conflict between people: values, data, relationships, interests and structure."
Over time, negotiations between state water experts have likely become stagnant after so many conflict-filled discussions that a fruitful give-and-take agreement isn't currently possible. Schlatter and Megdal explain, "We believe it’s unreasonable – and unrealistic and unfair – to expect them to be experts at designing and facilitating an effective process for sorting out their differences. . . . Federal officials are not necessarily the best people to run the process either."
Perhaps the most hopeful possibility is for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which has the authority to decide on water issues for states, to adopt "short-term rules that would give the states another chance to negotiate a longer-term deal – ideally with an unbiased third-party facilitator for support," they explain.
Recent historical water compromise agreements, such as the "collaborative and consensus-based planning process in the Yakima River Basin in Washington state or the Colorado River contingency plans to manage drought in 2019," can serve as examples, Schlatter and Megdal explain. "We believe that an agreement between the seven states is still possible."
The dashboard includes research results on roughly 60 topics related to a county's quality of life.
East Tennessee State University researchers created an online dashboard containing in-depth data about the state's counties. The portal is designed to help policymakers and lawmakers "move beyond superficial data and take a deep dive into why certain rural counties struggle," reports Liz Carey of The Daily Yonder. "Of Tennessee’s 95 counties, 78 are designated as rural, and 70 counties have more than half of their residents in rural areas."
To build the Tennessee Livability Indicators Dashboard, researchers at ETSU's Center for Rural Health and Research used data collected "from various agencies about 60 topics related to the counties’ quality of life," Carey explains. Data points cover "economic development, housing, transportation, education, employment, availability of health care access, and how friendly a community is for aging residents."
Dr. Qian Huang, a research assistant professor at CRHR, told the Yonder, "By bringing these data together, we aim to equip communities, leaders, and organizations with the tools they need to make informed decisions and strengthen livability across the state."
As the state decides where federal funds from the Rural Health Transformation Program are needed most, the dashboard can provide immediate, data-informed guidance. Carey adds, "Factors covered in the dashboard, such as hospital access, teen birth rate, suicide rates, and access to dental healthcare, will also help track successes from the use of those funds."
CRHR was formed in 2019 to help build a broader understanding of and for the state's rural counties. Carey reports, "Dashboard researchers said they hoped the dashboard would be used as a model for other states to be able to drill down into data about their communities, as well."
Ashley Wood, a second-year kindergarten teacher in Phelps County, Missouri, is
learning to teach her students reading with the new coaching model. (Photo via Missouri Independent)
Teachers in rural Missouri are helping students learn to read with a model that applies the science of reading to student learning, paired with teacher support and coaching.
Through the Rural Schools Early Literacy Collaborative, literacy coaches from the national nonprofit TNTP "work directly with teachers in [select Missouri] schools, helping them implement structured reading instruction grounded in the science of reading," reports William Hehemann of the Missouri Independent.
Part of the effort includes coaches trained in reading sciences who regularly visit classrooms to observe teachers in action and model foundational lessons with students for practicing teachers. Hehemann explains, "Teachers receive feedback tied directly to classroom instruction. Coaching conversations are specific, practical and immediately applicable, accelerating growth in instructional practice."
The RSELC is working to improve reading proficiency across the state, where a majority of students are struggling. Hehemann reports, "According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 27% of Missouri fourth-grade students scored at or above the proficient reading level . . . . Improving early literacy is critical because reading proficiency by the end of third grade is closely linked to long-term academic success."
Early data show that students taught with the coaching model have made significant strides in reading skills. "In Rolla Public Schools, more than 94% of first-grade students demonstrated year-long growth in reading after coaching support began," Hehemann writes. "In Dent-Phelps R-III School District, the share of first graders reading at grade level increased from 25.5% in the fall to 89.4% by the spring."
What began as an experiment in one rural Missouri county is "expanding across the state," Hehemann reports. "The coaching model is being implemented in 60 schools statewide. . . . Education leaders say the expansion reflects growing recognition that improving reading outcomes requires not only a strong curriculum but also sustained coaching and support for teachers."
Less than 10% of Americans reported smoking cigarettes in 2024. (Photo by A. Siimon, Unsplash)
For the first time in recorded U.S. history, the number of Americans who smoke cigarettes has dipped below 10%, reports Sarah Todd for STAT. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected the data, the U.S. government took the unusual step of releasing it without scientific comment. The lack of a CDC analysis led independent analysts at the digital New England Journal of Medicine Evidence to synthesize the information, which turned out to be good news. "It shows that 9.9% of U.S. adults reported smoking cigarettes in 2024, down from 10.8% in 2023. E-cigarette use remained unchanged from the previous year at 7%."
Wildfires in drought-stricken parts of the U.S. can threaten ranchers' livelihoods by burning through vast swaths of grassland meant to feed a cattle herd, forcing livestock owners to purchase feed or sell livestock. But recently, ranchers have been getting a helping hand from Farm Rescue’s 'Operation Hay Lift,' which steps in and provides free hay, including its delivery, to "help ranchers who lost pasture and feed supplies," reports Jennifer M. Latzke of Kansas Farmer. "With the recent historic wildfires burning more than 701,000 acres across Nebraska, Operation Hay Lift is likely to expand."
Unlike this 1981 couple, some Reese's fans aren't as excited about new ingredient mix-ups.
Once upon a time, when chocolate and peanut butter crashed into each other, it was a happy accident. At least, that's how the 1981 Reese's peanut butter cup ad told the story. But when Reese's food designers create new shapes or design twists, known as "line extensions," not everyone appreciates the new mix-ups. Jonathan Deutsch for The Conversationexplains, "Brad Reese, grandson of the founder, issued an open letter criticizing the Hershey Company for introducing line extensions – in this case, mini hearts for Valentine’s Day, with the flavors familiar to Reese’s lovers but made with cheaper ingredients, such as “chocolate candy” and “peanut butter creme.” While Brad Reese and other vocal Reese's fans may not like the ingredient switches, it's a common food industry practice.
The past few years have burdened many American farmers with high costs and low incomes. Farmers' stress can increase with every extreme weather event, fertilizer cost increase or spiking fuel price. It's good to remember that the Farm Aid Hotline (1-800-FARM-AID) is available Monday–Friday to farmers across the U.S. The Farm Aid Hotline connects farmers with resources for
stress, legal or financial issues. The AgriStress HelpLine (833-897-2474) is an option for farmers in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. The free, confidential helpline is open 24/7.
Hali Williams, right, in action. She won RodeoHouston's breakaway roping title in 2026. (Photo by Mallory Beinborn, RodeoHouston)
If they'd waited for an invitation or a welcoming wave to take a seat on the horse, they'd still be waiting. "Rodeo said bronco riding wasn’t a sport for women. They got on anyway," reports Haley Potter for Offrange. "Rodeo has tried everything to keep women from it. . . . We were long limited to timed events like barrel racing. . . . Despite a deep history of women in roughstock going back well over a century, modern bronc riding has largely been a man’s game. . . . But all that is changing now."
It's new, it's all about rural, and it's served fresh every week. Say
hello to Yonder Radio -- an hour-long show designed to cover current
events and "feature nuanced stories that represent the 60 million people
who live in rural America, and the distinct communities they call
home," reportsThe Daily Yonder. Each topic will add depth to how news and events
impact rural lives. Interviewees on the show will highlight arts, music and
community projects geared toward rural audiences. Jared Ewy, a veteran
radio personality and regular contributor to the Daily Yonder, is Yonder
Radio's host. The show is also available as a podcast. If
you’re a station interested in broadcasting Yonder Radio, get in contact
with the team at info@yonderradio.com
Finding affordable rural housing has been a long-term problem for residents. (Photo via Insight News)
A federal housing program that has supported affordable housing since 1963 is being phased out, leaving "half a million rural homes at risk," writes Brian Y. An, a public policy expert at the Georgia Institute of Technology, for Insight News, which serves the greater Minneapolis area. As Section 515 mortgages get paid off, landowners no longer have to guarantee lower rental costs.
While many Americans may see affordable rents as a more urban problem, finding and affording rental housing in rural areas has also been a long-term challenge, which the USDA sought to mitigate with incentivized loan programs like Section 515.
By offering below-market interest rates, Section 515 attracted private and nonprofit developers to "build and manage residential housing for low-income residents in small towns and rural counties," An explains. "Since its inception, the program has supported the construction of over 533,000 apartments, townhouses and other small, multifamily rental homes."
In 2011, the USDA stopped issuing Section 515 loans, which means the majority of properties built with Section 515 financing will mature by 2045. Once a Section 515 property is paid off, its owners can set their own rents, sell the property or end current home leases. An adds, "Because of this flexibility, a large share of rural affordable housing units could soon be converted to properties rented at market rates."
Rentals owned by nonprofits are the least likely to convert low-rent to market-rate rent. An writes, "Nonprofit-owned buildings. . . are 30% to 40% less likely to convert formerly Section 515 affordable housing into market-rate properties after the owners pay off their loans."
Washington lawmakers are working to address the gradual end to rural housing support through Section 515 rentals. The bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act serves as an example. An explains, "It would modernize USDA rural housing programs and allow certain rental assistance contracts to continue after mortgages mature. As of early 2026, the bill remains under consideration."
Farmers apply fertilizers just before or during spring planting. (Photo by Brandon Griggs, Unsplash)
With many crop fertilizers and fertilizer materials trapped by Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration has sought out countries that can produce or supply backup fertilizers for American farmers facing soaring fertilizer costs as they ramp up for spring plantings, reports Skylar Woodhouse of Farm Progress. American farmers already face economic headwinds from slowed trade
with China, high fertilizer and fuel prices, high labor costs, and farm
worker shortages.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told reporters earlier this week that the Trump administration was looking for ways to minimize U.S. fertilizer shortages. "Hassett said the U.S. has 'established licenses for Venezuela to produce more fertilizer,' and has held discussions with Morocco," Woodhouse writes.
Reutersreported that roughly 30% of the world's nitrogen fertilizer supply would normally go through the Strait of Hormuz. Woodhouse reports, "One facility in Qatar had produced so much fertilizer that it supplied 'maybe about 20%' of the U.S. market, according to Hassett. The Iran conflict has mostly shut the key Strait of Hormuz passage for ships."
A March 13 letter from the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, and other organizations asked fertilizer manufacturers Mosaic and Simplot to rescind their support for countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco and Russia, which contributed to spiking fertilizer costs even before the Iranian conflict.
As the war with Iran continues, farming fertilizer isn't the only pivotal import that relies on transport through the Middle East. Alexander Osipovich of The Wall Street Journalreports, "A protracted conflict with Iran could curtail exports of many inputs into the global supply chain. . . ranging from agriculture to chemicals and pharmaceuticals."
Osipovich includes a list from Barclays analysts on "some key non-energy products exported from nine Middle Eastern countries affected by the conflict." It's shared below.
62% of limestone flux, which is used in construction and is primarily sent to India 47% of sulfur, used for fertilizers and chemicals 28% of acyclic alcohols and derivatives, used as industrial chemicals and as fuel additives, and mostly exported to China 23% of polymers of ethylene, used in plastics manufacturing 23% of nitrogenous fertilizers, used in agriculture 20% of diamonds, with key processing hubs in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, though they are mined elsewhere 18% of unwrought aluminum
Dana Iglesias, medical director of the UNC
Health Chatham Maternity Care Center, left, and Beverly Carpenter, the unit's
manager, stand inside a labor and delivery room. (Photo by R. Crumpler, NC Health News)
UNC Health Chatham in North Carolina closed its obstetrical unit in 1991 after years of staffing shortages and poor financial performance. For 30 years, moms and families had to drive farther for care and delivery, while UNC hospital leadership continued to work on how to make maternity care fit in a rural hospital setting.
After decades of consideration, UNC hospital
leadership and medical providers decided to alter their obstetrical unit's staffing structure to make
it more versatile and affordable. UNC Health Chatham reopened its mother-baby unit in 2020. Rachel Crumpler of NC Health News reports, "Births at the unit have increased each year since it opened, reflecting demand for local maternity care."
The unit is created to be sustainable and flexible. Crumpler writes, "It serves low-risk mothers and newborns and is staffed by family physicians trained in obstetrics and surgery, along with midwives — a lower-cost model than one centered on OB-GYNs, who cost more to employ and are harder to recruit to rural areas."
Because family medicine doctors are trained across multiple medical
specialties, their versatility helps them meet the two-patients-at-once
demands of obstetrical care. Additionally, their salaries are lower than
OB-GYNs, "meaning delivery volumes don’t need to be as high for the
unit to be financially viable," Crumpler explains.
The unit's unique staffing structure and service model may offer a blueprint for other rural hospitals. Jesus Ruiz, a family physician at the Chatham Maternity Care, told NC Health News, "Chatham is a template, but it’s not a copy-and-paste template. . . .This shows a way that rural maternity care can be built and sustained.”
UNC Health Chatham leaders are working to spread the success of their model. Crumper adds, "Eric Wolak, the chief operating officer at UNC Health Chatham, said he’s fielded calls from other community hospitals — within and outside the UNC Health system — asking about the family medicine-driven model and Chatham’s implementation."
Specialty crop farmers don't grow hundreds of acres of one type of plant. (Photo by Zoe Richardson, Unsplash)
Despite the need for an economic boost, many specialty crop farmers chose not to participate in the Department of Agriculture's recent $1 billion Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers program.
"Small-scale fruit and vegetable farmers are skipping out on federal farm aid, citing onerous reporting requirements they say are not compatible with their farms and may not substantially pay off," reports Rebekah Alvey of Civil Eats.
Although the USDA let smaller-scale farmers know they had until March 13 to complete their acreage reports to apply for assistance, the agency did not inform them when and how the aid would be distributed. Alvey explains, "Without knowing the potential benefits of the assistance, many specialty-crop farmers decided not to submit an acreage report, disqualifying them from the aid."
The current USDA acreage reporting forms are geared toward commodity row-crop farmers, leaving many specialty farmers unsure how to meet the requirements. Minnesota-based farmer Sara George told Civil Eats, "If you have kale, you have to do acreage reporting of your kale. I don’t plant an acre of kale, I plant two rows of kale.”
An average corn farmer is likely to plant thousands of acres, which is far different from the "small, diversified specialty-crop operations [that] grow a range of crops, on a fraction of an acre of land, and sell to a variety of sources," Alvey explains. "Under those conditions, a detailed crop report can be difficult to put together."
Specialty farmers who chose to apply for the ASCF program were told to work with their local Farm Service Agency to resolve reporting questions, but getting help from the FSA proved difficult for some. "George reached out to [her] local FSA offices with questions about the forms," Alvey reports. "But staff seem to have limited information as well and are also new to filing these reports for specialty crops."
Alabama's website contains has a link to STAMP information, but the page contains surprisingly little information.
Rural New Yorkers are voicing opposition to a proposed data center in Alabama, New York, a mostly agricultural community in Genesee County with roughly 1,600 residents, reports Mark Sommer of The New York Times. Area residents "fear the sprawling center’s droning supercomputers will disturb Indigenous communities and animal life, strain the power grid and raise utility rates."
The $19.4 billion complex -- dubbed the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park — or STAMP — would cover 2.2 million square feet, and "be constructed roughly a mile from the territorial home of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation," Sommer writes. The massive data campus would also sit near the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and several smaller wildlife sanctuaries.
Location of Genesee County in New York (Wikipedia map)
As the Genesee County Economic Development Center moves the project forward, more residents are raising objections. Sommer reports, "The center’s opponents are also considering a lawsuit, which could delay it or stop it entirely."
Arthur Barnes, a resident of Shelby, a town just north of Alabama, told the Times, "I can’t think of one good reason for it. . . . Of all the places to put something like this, did they have to put it right next to a sovereign nation and a national wildlife refuge?"
If STAMP is built, area residents worry that their electricity rates will soar. Sommer explains, "The three states with the nation’s highest concentration of such data centers — Illinois, Virginia and Ohio — saw their electricity bills increase twice as much or more than the national average in August 2025 as compared with the same month in 2024."
Area residents who support STAMP say the fees and taxes it will pay will make the inconveniences it causes worth it. The Genesee County Economic Development Center can "expect $145 million in fees," Sommer reports. "Genesee County, Alabama and the local school district would also receive a combined $285 million over the course of STAMP’s 30-year contract."
The U.S. fertilizer supply system doesn't have fertilizer reserves. China's does. (Photo by L. King, Unsplash)
As the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran continues into its third week, fertilizer supplies needed by U.S. and Canadian farmers remain strangled in the Straight of Hormuz.
The loss of fertilizer imports in March catches farmers at a time when they are planning their spring planting rotations, reports Ed White of Reuters. "More than 30% of world nitrogen fertilizer exports, as well as
fertilizer components like sulfur, pass through the now effectively
closed Strait of Hormuz."
Besides delaying fertilizer supplies, the war has caused existing fertilizer prices to surge. White writes, "Any available [fertilizer] supplies have spiked more than a third since the war in Iran paralyzed global trade."
Farmers in both countries can scarcely afford the disruptions, since high input, labor and fuel costs already have many farms operating with razor-thin profits or at a loss. Unlike China, U.S. fertilizer suppliers "do not hold strategic reserves
of fertilizer," White adds. The lack of reserves leaves American
planters vulnerable to global supply chain shortages and price volatility.
Corn and wheat crops require liberal doses of synthetic urea to grow healthy yields. White reports, "The U.S., which in some years imports half of its urea fertilizer, is about 25% short of the usual supplies that farmers buy for spring planting, according to The Fertilizer Institute, which represents the U.S. fertilizer supply chain."
Even if the Strait of Hormuz opened today, some of the fertilizer bottle-necked there might be rerouted to countries willing to pay more. Josh Linville, a fertilizer market analyst at StoneX, told Reuters, "Not only am I worried about incoming vessels being turned around to other, better-paying destinations, there's an argument to be made, if somebody was willing to go and buy up (supply on) barges, to load them onto a vessel and export it."
"The American Farm Bureau Federation warned that fertilizer supply shortages could hit the U.S. food supply," White adds. "Most fertilizer needs to be applied before the crop starts growing, so
any supplies arriving too late cannot be used for the 2026 crop."
An OB/GYN mobile outreach clinic directed by researchers Adetola F. Louis-Jacques, Arielle Ayotte, and Michelle Nall at
the University of Florida is helping to address a maternity care desert in
north-central Florida, they report for The Conversation.
Nationwide, 2.5 million, or 4%, of American women
of childbearing age live in a maternity care desert, they report. A maternity
care desert is any county with no hospital, birthing center or obstetric health
care professional. “Women in maternity care deserts travel an average of 35
miles to reach a birthing hospital, compared to an average of 9 miles for women
in full-access counties.”
Traveling longer distances for obstetric care is directly correlated
with poorer infant and maternal health outcomes, studies show.
Florida counties with full, low, or no access to maternity care. (Map via The Conversation CC, data from March of Dimes 2023 statistics, Click to enlarge)
In Florida, only three of the 14 north-central counties have
full access to obstetric care, the researchers explain, and six have low access.
The other five counties are deserts that they estimate to have 3,400 women of
childbearing age. They also found in a 2024 report that 18 of Florida’s 21
rural hospitals have no more obstetric care, often because of a lack of funding.
Their new mobile clinic, started in February last year, offers
prenatal and postpartum care, breastfeeding support, family planning, annual
gynecological exams and preventive health screenings. They have already cared
for 194 women in 616 visits.
Everything is free to the patients, and they offer assistance
to help eligible patients apply for Medicaid benefits. “In 2023, about 1 in 7
women of childbearing age in Florida were uninsured,” they report.
A survey of mobile clinic patients across the U.S. found
they “reported receiving holistic care, feeling safer than they’d felt in other
health care settings and interacting with staff who were mindful of health care
costs,” as well as being able to “maintain continuity of care.”
Most mobile clinics don’t offer maternal and infant health
services, the researchers explain, and as maternity care deserts grow, more
OB/GYN mobile health clinics like this one can directly provide low-income,
rural areas with regular prenatal and postpartum care that women wouldn’t have
access to otherwise.
Rural residents are more dependent on the USPS. (Photo by A. Land, Unsplash)
The U.S. Postal Service can't borrow any more money to cover ongoing deficits, and unless changes to its funding are made, USPS leadership has warned that the service will run out of money sometime in 2026. Elena Patel reports for Brookings. "This fiscal crisis reflects a structural mismatch between what Congress requires the Postal Service to do and how it is financed."
When the USPS was created, its financial foundations included a monopoly on letter delivery tied to a universal service mandate; however, as the number of letters mailed in the U.S. steadily declined beginning in 2007, the universal service requirement remained in place. The lack of letter revenue essentially meant USPS could no longer afford to deliver to all 169 million addresses that Congress mandated it serve with affordable rates.
Once letter revenue tanked, the USPS still delivered to every address despite the financial toll. "The USPS nationwide delivery network ensures that access does not depend on geography or profitability," Patel explains.
Brookings graph, from USPS Form 10-K Operating Statistics, FY 2007–2025.
For rural communities, USPS mail carriers often go the "last mile" to complete a delivery. The mail is a backbone for small-town businesses, finances and even medical care. Patel writes, "Particularly in low-density and rural communities, the mail remains essentialinfrastructure. It delivers prescription medications, ballots, and online purchases, and it supports local small-business activity."
Patel suggests some USPS changes that Congress could enact, which are edited for brevity below.
Restructure pension liability finances, "including shifting these costs to the Treasury, as is done for other federal agencies."
Pay universal service costs: "The cost of the universal service obligation exceeded the value of the postal monopoly by roughly $2-$3 billion per year for the last several years. . . . Congress could fund that mandate explicitly through annual appropriations."
Increase the USPS borrowing cap and allocate funds for infrastructure improvements. "Additional capital flexibility could ease short-term liquidity pressures and allow USPS to finance modernization over time rather than from current cash flows."
Congress can "realign the financing framework with the universal service mandate it has imposed," Patel adds. "Or it can allow liquidity constraints to narrow that mandate by default. In practice, that 'default' path would likely involve deferred payments, delayed investment, and increased pressure for service cuts that fall most heavily on the communities most reliant on the mail."
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced $50 billion in funding for the Rural Health Transformation Program, many Americans may have assumed the money would help struggling rural hospitals shore up their finances and stay open.
But RHTP program dollars aren't meant to prop up declining systems by helping them maintain the status quo of rural health care, writes R.J. Marse, General Counsel at Sprinter Health, in his opinion for Healthcare IT Today. "At $50 billion over five years. . . the amount is significant, but more noteworthy is the program’s intent."
The program aims to change how rural health care is approached and practiced by incentivizing innovation, technology and successful outcomes across a system.
RHTP challenges rural health systems to go beyond traditional health care infrastructure by designing and launching treatment that includes "telehealth and remote monitoring. . . technology-enabled solutions that allow providers to practice at the top of their license," Marse writes. "It even allows states to invest in early-stage healthcare companies, a signal that the ultimate goal is innovation."
Marse explains, "Funding is conditioned on outcomes, so while the aim is to reach more rural patients in more rural communities, interventions will need to do so in ways that measurably improve health and lower long-term costs."
RHTP structural demands push rural health care systems to combine modern medical treatment models with the inherent challenges of working with a rural population. Marse writes, "RHTP demands confronting the fact that many rural patients will not engage with care unless it comes to them – or, at least, closer to them. . . . Rural care transformation must, by necessity, be hybrid. It should deliver care virtually when appropriate, and physically when and where it’s needed."
"Rural health doesn’t need another bailout. It needs fundamentally different operating models that can endure when federal dollars dissipate," Marse explains. "Five years from now, RHTP will be judged not by how much money was spent, but by what was built."
Many rural schools have depended on foreign teachers to fill teaching positions. (Photo by K. Eliason, Unsplash)
At a time when rural schools can least afford to lose teachers, some school administrators have stopped offering international teacher contracts or contract renewals due to higher visa costs and uncertain immigration policies, reports Michael Melia of The Associated Press.
Teachers are in short supply across the U.S., with the shortage most acutely felt in rural counties that can't offer higher salaries or city amenities to recruit new educators. To fill the gaps, rural schools turned to international teachers. Melia writes, "More than 2,300 people with H-1B visas work as educators across 500
school districts."
Superintendent Vallerie Cave, who oversees schools in rural Allendale County, S.C., has consistently employed foreign teachers to fill roughly 25% of her open teaching positions, Melia reports. But this year, Cave is ending contracts and not extending new offers. She told AP, "Some of my very best teachers are having to return to their countries."
Early in 2025, the Trump administration raised H-1B visa fees to $100,000, which allowed "highly skilled foreign workers to be employed in the U.S," Melia explains. "The Trump administration argued American employees were being replaced, particularly in highly paid roles at tech companies."
In rural counties like Allendale, where poverty is high and teacher salaries are low, paying higher visa fees isn't feasible. And while many rural administrators will try to hire locally to fill gaps left by international teachers, many will add more online teaching or "consider hiring uncertified instructors, combining classes or dropping course offerings."
Some international teachers could teach in American schools with a J-1 visa, which "is not subject to the new fee," Melia adds. But many international teachers have decided not to teach in the U.S. for now and have chosen to go home. In turn, many American rural school districts are avoiding any visa issues by eliminating international teacher hires.
Like many rural school superintendents, Cave says she will do all she can to fill teaching gaps with certified teachers, but admits it will be hard. She told the AP, "I can’t really do competitive pay. For rural America, impoverished America, it is still a problem recruiting teachers.”
Clover is a "workhorse" cover crop used in regenerative farming. (Photo by Veronica White, Unsplash)
Despite a $700 million budget and farmers excited about the program, the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative may have trouble getting off the ground. "The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has lost more than 2,000 employees since January 2025, potentially harming the department’s ability to roll out the initiative," reports Claire Carlson of The Daily Yonder.
The initiative was announced last December as a joint effort by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services to help farmers incorporate more regenerative farming practices, such as cover crops and no-till farming.
For the most part, the Trump administration's NRCS layoffs mostly terminated newer or early-career employees, who "are the employees who would have likely helped with the rollout of the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative," Carlson reports. "Without the necessary staffing, the initiative could falter — even though it’s likely to be very popular among farmers."
At its current staffing levels, the NRCS doesn't have enough employees to help farmers through the application and award process, and it may lack personnel with the right expertise, Carlson reports.
When the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative was announced, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy,Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz issued a shared press release extolling the need for "American farmers [to] adopt practices that improve soil health, enhance water quality, and boost long-term productivity, all while strengthening America’s food and fiber supply."
It's unclear how American farmers can meet those goals without the necessary USDA staff at the Natural Resources Conservation Service to support farmers who want to participate in RAI. Carlson adds, "For farmers planning to apply for funds through the initiative,
it’s quite possible their questions to the agency will go unanswered with
fewer people on the job to assist."
Electronic waste could provide needed minerals. (Photo by Nathan Cima, Unsplash)
Despite rich geological stores and landfills piled with used tech equipment, the U.S. doesn't have the domestic supply of critical minerals it needs to build tech equipment. The country has lacked an economically viable way to "extract metals like copper, silver and rare-earth elements from the country’s abundant ores and heaps of old electronics," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal. But a new metallurgy company with innovative scientists says it has found a solution.
The company, Valor, is working "to commercialize a breakthrough in metallurgy called electrochemical liquid-liquid extraction," Dezember explains. According to scientists, the new process "can separate metals and rare earths from electronic waste and mined ores without the massive amounts of energy and chemicals" used by smelting or other refining methods.
The cutting-edge science starts with molecular magnets, called ligands, that scientists make to bind and release specific elements. Dezember explains. "To pluck the silver from a slurry of ground-up computer chips, the ligand made to bind to the precious metal is activated with a current of electricity and then turned off to release the silver for reuse."
Critical and rare-earth minerals are essential for producing the most advanced technologies, including defense systems, magnets, semiconductors, medical equipment and consumer electronics; however, China has always dominated the global sector. Unleashing a new way for the U.S. to harness its rare earth stores could change that dynamic.
For now, Valor will open its first plant in Houston, Texas. The company plans to "eventually build refineries of various sizes across the country, near lithium brine fields in Arkansas, Arizona’s copper mines and big cities where loads of recycled cellphones and computers can be gathered."
Most Americans are too busy living daily life to hate on other Americans. (Photo by Dyana Wing So, Unsplash)
TV commentary, social media or major news websites can leave readers wondering where our country went wrong and why Americans hate each other so much. But is that honestly how average Americans see their lives and each other?
Mike Allen doesn't think so. In his opinion for Axios, Allen declares that the blasts of newsy angst and misanthropic disgust are a "ubiquitous, emphatic, verifiable lie. . . . Most Americans are too busy for social media, too normal for politics, too rational to tweet."
The most American "Super Majority" isn't online 24/7 looking for ways to throw tomatoes at other busy Americans, Allen insists. They may be at their desks grinding it out, their kids' sporting events, attending a book club or helping their neighbor with lawn care, but they are not working on hating others.
"Most Americans are patriotic, hardworking, neighbor-helping, America-loving, money-giving people who don't pop off on social media or plot for power," Allen writes. "It's the terminally online news junkies who are detached from the actual reality."
Allen writes, "Most people agree on most things, most of the time. And the data validates this, time and time again. . . . The system feels broken. The people are not."
Instead of allowing any other people to tell you who Americans are, look around you. Allen writes, "In a given year, you see hundreds of people frequently enough to appraise their character. Are they good people? Would they help shovel after a snowstorm or lift groceries for an aging neighbor? . . .We bet the answer is a resounding yes. This is America's Super Majority."
In 2024, Americans "gave $592.5 billion to charity — a record, with individuals accounting for two-thirds of it," Allen adds. "This isn't a broken nation. This is a generous one, where the vast majority quietly do the right thing every single day."
Next time you consider how you feel about your country and "your screen tells you America is broken, close it," Allen writes. "Walk outside. Talk to your neighbor. Coach the team. Go to the town meeting. That's the real America — and it's a hell of a lot better than the one being manufactured for clicks, clout and cash."
Silicone wristbands could help scientists monitor for chemicals. (Venier Lab photo via The Conversation CC)
Silicone wristbands are a new noninvasive method to measure
Americans’ exposure to "forever chemicals", or PFAS, reports Yaw Edu Essandoh for
The Conversation.
These synthetic chemicals, often found in water systems,
soils and consumer products, have been a growing public concern and become more
prevalent in everyday environments, Essandoh explains.
Traditional monitoring tools for measuring their exposure have
only used samples from a single point in time and can be invasive, like drawing
someone’s blood or testing soil or water from one location on one day, reports
Essandoh. However, Essandoh found from his environmental chemistry research
that people or animals living in the same environment “showed very different
chemical profiles.”
Since people are exposed continuously throughout the day,
new noninvasive tools are becoming more popular to monitor exposure over a
period of time, Essandoh reports. One such tool is the silicone wristbands, made of silicone
polymer, which “absorb chemicals from the surrounding environment over time,
similar to how skin or fur interacts with air, dust and surfaces." Researchers can then extract these compounds from the wristband and examine
the pattern of exposure, once the wristband is worn for multiple days or weeks.
Other noninvasive methods scientists have started using to
track exposure include “passive air samplers placed in homes or small wearable
devices,” explains Essandoh. These types of devices can also be used for animals
and wildlife, instead of drawing their blood, to better understand how PFAS affect their ecosystems and to identify emerging risks sooner.
Noninvasive monitoring tools aren’t meant to eliminate
traditional monitoring, Essandoh explains, but to provide additional context to
how exposure moves through time and space and to entice more volunteers to
participate in studies. “They offer ways to better understand cumulative
exposure, identify overlooked pathways and inform environmental health and
conservation decisions.”
Valley Medical Group joined an IPA to help regain its financial footing. (New England Public Media photo)
As the number of primary care doctors in the U.S. continues to decrease, the number of independent primary care practices has also fallen. A practice in the Connecticut River Valley, Valley Medical Group, has sought to maintain its independence while boosting its bottom line by joining with other independent primary physicians, reports Karen Brown of New England Public Media.
Founded during the 1990s, Valley Medical Group has become one of the "largest independent practices in western Massachusetts," Brown writes. But the practice's patient volume and focus on quality family medical care haven't shielded it from the financial pitfalls of the American insurance payment system, which rewards specialists and physicians who perform procedures over primary care.
Valley Medical Group owners found themselves stuck in insurance contracts that didn't pay well or accurately. "In January, the practice laid off 40 employees — 10% of its 400-person staff — mostly in support positions," Brown writes. "Thousands of primary care practices, a key gateway to the medical system, are fighting to remain financially viable — and independent."
VMG doctors also wanted to avoid selling their practice to a hospital, which would likely take away some of their clinical autonomy. Instead, the group opted to join an Independent Physician Association. Brown explains, "Like a union, an IPA combines individual primary care offices, giving them power in numbers when negotiating contracts with Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies."
While not all IPAs are equal -- some are owned by hospitals or private equity funds -- most help level the financial playing field for smaller practices. According to Brown, when independent practices band together, they can accept insurance contracts that pay them a per-patient allotment rather than billing for each visit or procedure.
Chris Kryder, CEO of Arches Medical IPA in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told Brown, "If we keep people out of the ER, keep them out of unnecessary hospitalizations, we save money for the system. . . And we create more income for the primary care providers, which is dreadfully needed."
Drones can spray hundreds of acres without damaging crops. (Revolution Drones photo via Farm Journal)
As farmers search for every penny in savings, using drones to spray crops is a viable way for them to increase yields, reduce machinery wear and tear, and save on fuel costs, reports Chris Bennett of Farm Journal.
North Carolina farmer Russell Hedrick has been using drone-spraying since 2021. He started experimenting with drones to lessen the damage a rig does to his crops, and the cost of running the rig does to his budget. He now operates his own drone company, Revolution Drones, that produces drones especially built for American farmers.
"If a farmer with 6,000 acres of soybeans runs a ground rig just twice, and loses 1.5 bushels per acre in damage, the cost is $90,000," Hedrick told Bennett. If that same farmer invests in drone spraying 750 acres a day at a cost of roughly $51,000, it'll take eight days to spray the crop and prevent $90,000 in crop damage.
Hedrick explained, "That farmer paid for his drone in eight days and still had $39,000 left in savings. . . .This is a game-changer like nothing else out there, and its impact is only just starting to be realized."
Russell Hedrick is a North Carolina farmer and innovator. (Courtesy photo via Farm Journal)
Hedrick didn't set out to build his own drones, but he kept running into the same issue -- all the drones he used were built in China and built for the way Chinese farmers work their land. He told Bennett, "They don’t know how we farm in America, and don’t understand the vastness of our fields and the necessity to cover hundreds or thousands of acres in (a) day in a timely manner."
After considering his options, Hedrick decided to build his own drones. Bennett writes, "Farm innovator to the core, Hedrick already had access to software production through co-ownership of Soil Regen. He partnered with Gteex Drones in Brazil, another farmer-led business."
"Drone utilization in agriculture is about to go nuclear, far beyond present use, Hedrick insists. Why? Simple economics," Bennett reports. "Agriculture, Hedrick believes, is at the get-go of historic technology change, echoing the breakthroughs of yesteryear, whether steel plow or mechanization."
The first grizzly bear of 2026 spotted in Yellowstone National Park left its den in search of lunch. (Photo by Jim Peaco, National Park Service)
Yellowstone Park researchers know winter is on the way out when they see a grizzly bear out of its den and feasting on lunch after its long months of hibernation. "Scientists spotted the first grizzly bear of 2026 earlier this week at Yellowstone National Park, marking the beginning of the end of hibernation season for the massive creatures," reports Emily Mae Czachor of CBS News. "The grizzly observed this year was seen in the backcountry, scavenging on the carcass of a bull bison, another species found in the park."
When spring starts its seasonal orchestra, the percussion section begins with the staccato drums of male woodpeckers trying to out "hammer" each other to win over female woodpeckers. "The emphatic drumming, meant to attract mates and drive off rival males, is by no means the only way woodpeckers are at the pulse of things," writes Margaret Roach of The New York Times. Abandoned woodpecker nests are repurposed into homes by "wood ducks, owls, bluebirds, tree swallows, squirrels, martens, bats and raccoons" to name a few. Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers is a new book by author and wildlife photographer Paul Bannick that gives rich insight into how humans can help nature's amazing builders.
Chestnut trees that once filled American forests until an airborne blight and root rot pushed them to the brink of extinction might once again compete for space in forests from Maine to Mississippi. "A new study in the journal Science provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation," reports Michael Phillis of The Associated Press. "A smaller gap between generations means a faster path to lots of disease-resistant trees. . . . The authors hope that can occur in the coming decades."
U.S. pistachio production hit a record 1.57 billion pounds last year. (USDA ARS photo)
They're cracked, green and more than a little nutty. Meet the American pistachio. It's an alternate-bearing crop that's gaining international popularity, especially when mixed with chocolate. "The U.S. pistachio industry appears to be attracting more demand as its supply could soon reach 2 billion pounds," reports Todd Fitchette of Western Farm Press. "The popularity of a chocolate bar created in Dubai with crushed pistachios in it has helped bolster global pistachio demand in other products. . . .The U.S. currently controls the world’s pistachio market share with about 63% of the global supply."
Moss can help 'track a suspect's movements' through woods and water edges. (Photo by N. Macc, Unsplash)
In some hard-to-crack crime cases, there's often a trail that leads to a remote location where a body is disposed of, leaving nearby flora as the only witness. And while plants can't talk, many a detective knows that foliage can still tell part of the story. More recently, forensic botanists are analyzing moss for clues. "Particles from the dense, green mats can easily attach to a suspect’s shoes or clothing, grow on human remains and survive in adverse conditions," reports Samantha Drake of The New York Times. Moss samples can help detectives determine postmortem timelines, "track a suspect’s movements and establish key links to help solve crimes including homicides, missing person cases and cemetery desecrations."
Research efforts in Wisconsin who are focused on bald eagle health are helping scientists determine PFAS levels in human populations across the state. "Dubbed 'forever chemicals,' PFAS don’t break down easily and are found in common household products," Sea Grant for the University of Wisconsin reports. "They’re harmful to human health and have been found in high concentrations in drinking water in communities across Wisconsin. The project's emerging contaminants specialist, Gavin Dehnert, said eagles are what’s known as a 'sentinel species,' organisms that can alert humans to environmental toxins. Due to their diet, bald eagles are particularly good indicators of how much PFAS are in the environment."
Synthetic urea-based fertilizers are commonly used to provide nitrogen to U.S. crops. American farmers worry that an extended war with Iran could make supplies scant. (Global Trade Tracker graph)
Whether it's citrus crops in Florida, corn in the American heartland or wheat grown in the Dakotas, U.S. farms, which are thousands of miles from the Straits of Hormuz, are already feeling strained by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The length and intensity of the conflict will determine how deeply American farms and the businesses and consumers that rely on them will be affected.
"Farmers are now feeling the impact in Iran with not only higher fertilizer prices, but the concern that farmers may not even be able to find enough fertilizer for spring," reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "As the situation unfolded over the past week, analysts say the reaction
across commodity markets illustrated just how closely agriculture is
tied to global energy and political dynamics."
The war has already led some U.S. farmers to shift the amount of corn they plan to grow. "Corn is far more fertilizer-intensive than soybeans, particularly when it comes to nitrogen," Morgan explains. "When fertilizer prices rise sharply, the relative profitability of soybeans often improves quickly." Most U.S. farmers use synthetic urea fertilizer or anhydrous ammonia to provide their crops with sufficient nitrogen for high-yield, healthy growth.
Beyond corn, wheat crop farmers generally use hefty amounts of urea-based fertilizer, so those farmers may change how many acres of spring wheat they decide to plant this April. Chip Nellinger, founder of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, told Farm Journal, "There’s a lot of nitrogen that needs applied on U.S. wheat acres here over the coming three or four months ahead of us.”
U.S. farmers want to see the situation with Iran de-escalate and shipping lanes reopen. Morgan reports, "Much of the global focus right now remains on reopening critical energy shipping lanes and restoring stability to oil markets. . . . If that happens quickly, the agricultural ripple effects may prove temporary."
