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.
Thursday, April 9, is Local News Day across the USA.
Most Americans consider local media coverage to be their most important, trusted and reliable news source. On April 9, Local News Day will help millions of Americans in communities of all sizes reconnect with the local outlets they trust to provide coverage of recent events, hold leaders accountable and strengthen an overall sense of community.
As part of the day, Rebuild Local News and the Online News Association will co-host “2026 State Policy Playbook for Newsrooms,”
an online event for newsroom leaders and journalists
offering a clear, practical overview of emerging policy models and
guidance on how to engage policymakers effectively. Register here.
Local News Day also offers connection support and tools for nonprofit organizations and government offices that want to support their valued news resources. Local News Day will provide organizations with ready-to-use tools designed to engage communities and strengthen the trusted local news they rely on. Sign up by April 2.
Individuals looking to voice their support for the community strength local news provides can sign up for updates on Local News Day activities here.
The Trump administration announced biodiesel quota increases last week, which will give a much-needed financial lift to some corn and soybean farmers. "The new rule increases biomass-based diesel — which is partly derived from soybeans — blending by more than 60%," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "It raises the biofuel requirement for all fuels by a lower percentage."
Federal biofuel requirements from 2025-2027. (Graph via Farm Progress)
The quota announcement, which tells refineries "how much biofuel made from crops must be blended into the gasoline and diesel supply" ... "is closely watched by corn and soybean farmers," Thomas explains. The percentage also impacts companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, which "buy crops from farmers and process grains and oilseeds into fuel, food ingredients and other products."Trump announced the quota requirements at a White House event "surrounded by farmers, ranchers and a gold-colored tractor," Thomas explains. Trump outlined how the increased renewable fuel requirements "would help bolster the U.S. fuel supply, while generating $10 billion for rural economies."
Trump also told the crowd that "he was seeking congressional action to allow gas containing 15% of ethanol year-round and new loan guarantees for farmers," Thomas reports. Farmers have been pushing for year-round sales of E-15 gasoline, commonly known as "Unleaded 88" for its higher octane rating. Ninety-seven percent of U.S. ethanol is made from corn, so continuous E-15 sales would primarily benefit American corn farmers.
The farmer loan guarantees Trump referenced are aimed at lowering grocery prices. Trump said the loans, which will flow through the Small
Business Administration, will "open up 'massive new loan guarantees' for
farmers and food producers," reportsJoshua Baethge of Farm Progress.
Dairy cows wander and graze on O'Harrow Family Farm acreage.
For decades, being a Wisconsin dairy farmer and voting Republican went hand in hand for Tim O'Harrow and his family. But GOP immigration politics and Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions are no longer in sync with the O'Harrows' experience and what they feel is moral, reports Sabrina Tavernise for The New York Times. Some family members are considering shifting their political alliances.
"Immigrant workers are the lifeblood of the O’Harrow farm, a four-generation family enterprise with 1,600 cows in northeastern Wisconsin," Tavernise writes. "But many of them will not travel to Mexico to see dying parents, or drive to nearby towns to visit siblings... because they are afraid of being swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown."
The second Trump administration's approach to immigration doesn't make good business sense to Tim O'Harrow or his son, Joel, who runs the farm. Tavernise explains, "These workers oversee America’s milk. By one estimate, dairies that employ immigrant workers produce 79% of the nation’s milk supply, and the price of milk would double without them."
Tim O'Harrow knows conflicts over undocumented immigrant farm workers aren't a new problem. He's been talking to politicians in Washington and in Madison, Wisconsin, the state's capital city, for 20 years, asking them to create a visa system or path to citizenship for these vital workers. But politics have gone the opposite way.
"Washington has failed to make any meaningful changes, and Republican voters continue to be anti-immigration, particularly those in Wisconsin," Tavernise reports. "That has left the O’Harrows in an uncomfortable place — stuck between what they see as an obvious truth, that immigrants are essential to America’s food supply, and a national political mood hurtling in the other direction."
Tim O'Harrow told the Times, "I don’t know that I’m a Republican anymore. I don’t know what we are anymore.”
Both Tim and his son told the Times they would be open to voting for a Democrat in future elections. Tavernise writes, "And for the first time in 20 years, a Democratic primary will be held in their district, a sign that the party believes it has a chance to flip what has been a solidly Republican seat."
For more explanation on why a stalwart GOP family would consider voting for a Democrat, read the full story here.
New Jersey and Rhode Island do not have rural hospitals and are excluded from the analysis.
Rural cancer patients often drive hundreds of miles for treatments only bigger cities can offer, but a smaller hospital that chose to add an infusion clinic in a rural area shows that cancer care can move closer to home, reports Caleb Hellerman of CNN News.
Childress Regional Medical Center, which serves roughly 30,000 people in a 5-county region of North Texas, did the opposite of what many smaller hospitals have been doing. They added services instead of shrinking them. Hellerman writes, "Childress [began with] opening a small infusion center in 2013 and steadily expanding its capabilities in order to serve patients."
When it comes to diagnosis, treatment and survival rates, rural cancer patients are already at a disadvantage. Hellerman reports, "Rural cancer patients tend to be diagnosed later and have worse outcomes. . . . Rural patients are also less likely to receive treatment that meets the standard of care."
Although the Childress infusion clinic started small, the need for it quickly became apparent, and its provider count grew to meet the needs of rural patients. Hellerman explains, "The infusion center started with two chairs but has since grown to encompass 10 spots for patients, three full-time pharmacists and three full-time oncology nurses."
Residents in the region are luckier than many of their rural peers. The medical consulting group Chartis "found that 448 rural hospitals – nearly a quarter of the nation’s total – stopped offering chemotherapy services between 2014 and 2024," Hellerman writes. Out of all the states, Texas lost the most.
Beyond the transportation issues, rural cancer patients will continue to face a dwindling number of oncologists willing to practice in rural regions. Some of that shortage is attributed to younger specialists preferring to live and work in more urban areas. But, according to Hellerman, the high cost of cutting-edge cancer drugs is also preventing younger oncologists from considering rural-leaning positions.
"Oncologists and hospital administrators say pressures are likely to worsen over the next few years as provisions of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' kick in," Hellerman reports. Most of those cuts are slated to come from reducing the number of Americans who receive Medicaid.
Some rural residents can no longer enroll in Medicare Advantage Plans.
Privatized Medicare coverage, also known as Medicare Advantage Plans, stopped providing health insurance to residents in counties where profits were too slim or nonexistent. The shift in coverage options has disproportionately affected rural residents, reports Christopher Rowland of The Washington Post.
Over the past 20 years, Medicare Advantage Plans have grown exponentially by offering extra perks and low premiums to seniors seeking health care coverage that provides more benefits than traditional Medicare, but that trend has reversed. Rowland explains, "Insurers sharply retreated from the plans in some regions, saying rising health care costs and reduced government reimbursements have hurt profitability. . . . Hardest hit were a half-dozen rural states from New England to Idaho."
The sudden change "highlights one of the risks for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, especially in rural areas where options tend to be meager: plans are under no obligation to offer coverage year-to-year," Rowland reports. "When profit margins are threatened, insurance companies can suddenly withdraw coverage."
Many rural counties have been the first to be cut off, leaving residents with traditional Medicare Part B, which has an 80/20 split, as their only option. Many seniors fear their 20% share will leave them with large medical bills.
In 2026, nearly 3 million people, or 10% of Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries, were dropped and forced to find other health care coverage, Rowland reports. "That’s a big jump from 2018 to 2024, when the rate of involuntary terminations was below 2% each year."
State-level bans like Mississippi's can restrict access to the lab-grown dairy industry. (Photo by A. Chaudhary, Unsplash)
Mississippi is the first state to ban lab-grown dairy after passing a bill effective July 1, reports Karen Bohnert for Dairy Herd Management. Lab-grown dairy is "produced through precision fermentation or cell-culturing techniques" and often referred to as "fake milk," Bohnert explains. The bill, HB 1153, requires strict labeling requirements and updated authority to state inspectors to prevent the manufacture, sale and distribution of cell-cultured dairy throughout the state, Bohnert reports.
Lawyers for Reporters, created by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, is a free resource for American local and public-interest journalism organizations needing legal services, reports Tandy Lau for E&P Magazine. There's a five-person in-house legal team based in New York offering assistance, and they partner with outside counsel for extra support in farther areas. Managing Attorney Kay Murray told E&P they "really guide [journalists] to ensure that they've got the backup to get it right, that they are confident about getting it right [and] that their understanding with their sources is something that everybody is on the same page about." They hope to soon provide more support for investigative reporting and coverage of immigration issues as well. "If I was trying to quantify the value of [Lawyers for Reporter's assistance], it would add up to easily tens of thousands of dollars if not well into the six figures," Warwick Sabin, CEO and president of Deep South Today, told E&P.
A new study found a long-term shift in cancer death trends, with rural areas facing higher cancer death rates than urban areas in recent years, reports Dennis Thompson for U.S. News & World Report. Previously, between 1969 and 1971, “large cities had the highest overall cancer death rates, followed by small- to medium-sized cities.” However, rural areas had the highest rates in 2021 to 2023, and large cities had the lowest rates. Specifically, lung cancer deaths among rural men were 26% lower than city dwellers in 1969 to 1971, but 55% higher in 2021 to 2023. Researchers said the shift and continuously widening gap is “likely driven by limited access to health care, lower cancer screening rates, higher poverty, more smoking and other lifestyle and environmental factors” in rural communities.
In a new social experiment by Matter Neuroscience, two old payphones set up at a nursing home in Nevada and near Boston University allow "zoomers" and "boomers" to call each other from 3,000 miles apart, reports Scottie Andrew for CNN. Designed to help people feel less lonely, this pilot project will last at least a month, according to Matter Neuroscience. "Friendship could come in all ages. Wisdom can come in all forms, and we just want people to get out of their comfort zone and have a conversation," Matter Neuroscience social strategist Calla Kessler said.
GM announced it will be adding a day of factory production to it heavy-duty truck line.
General Motors is increasing its heavy-duty truck production, as consumer demand remains strong despite rising gas and diesel prices, reports Christopher Otts for The Wall Street Journal. GM's Flint Assembly plant in Michigan will operate six days a week now, rather than five, producing more heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, Otts reports. Workers will be "mandated into overtime hours to cover the additional day of production," explains Otts. As gas prices have risen by about one-third since the beginning of the Iran war, GM's stock has declined about 10% so far this year, and forecasters predict new-vehicle sales to fall 6.5% in the first quarter.
The U.S. food and agriculture industries will produce $10.4
trillion for the economy in 2026, backing 48.7 million jobs, reports Feed &
Grain staff.
Despite rising inflation and global trade pressures, the
sector makes up almost 20% of the national economy, increasing profits by $894
billion each year, according to data from the Feeding the Economy report.
Food manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in
the country, from two million farms and ranches to 200,000 food manufacturing,
processing and storage facilities. It also includes more than one million restaurants and
foodservice establishments, and 200,000 retail food stores.
The economic impact of the food and agriculture sector in each state. (Interactive map via Feeding the Economy, Click here to choose your state.)
Some of the highlights from the report show the food and
agriculture sector generating:
More than $177.3 billion worth of exports
More than $3 trillion in workers' wages
6.5% growth in direct employment over the last decade
4% yearly rise in wages and 13% rise over the last decade, surpassing inflation
$1.35 trillion in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments, increasing 7% each year
Many rural communities rely on food and agriculture revenue as the backbone of their local economy, with wages reinvested to support local housing, healthcare, education, small businesses and infrastructure, reports Feeding the Economy. “From farm to factory and truck to table, food and agriculture's impact sustains jobs, powers commerce, and strengthens communities across America."
AI companies chose not to attribute their source materials. (Photo by Markus Winkler, Unsplash)
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok all hijack Canadian news stories to use in their databases without adding legal attributions to stories pilfered from authors or arranging for copyright payment to publishers, according to an AI audit by Canadian researchers at McGill University, reports Brier Dudley, Free Press editor for The Seattle Times.
Professors Taylor Owen and Aengus Bridgman at McGill "tested four major AI models to see how much they knew about current news stories in Canada and how much credit they give to outlets that originally reported the stories," Dudley explains. The audit proved that tested AI models were "quite knowledgeable about current news stories. But in queries involving web searches, they provided no source attribution in 82% of the responses."
Owen and Bridgman write, "They have [taken and used content] without compensation, without attribution, and without any obligation to sustain the infrastructure they are drawing from. The result is a system that accelerates the economic decline of the journalism it relies on.”
The lack of attribution by AI companies is intentional. "When asked about a story from a specific outlet, the responses named the source 74% to 97% of the time," Dudley adds. "That indicates the companies are technically capable of naming sources but are making a 'design choice' not to, the audit states."
AI's pilfered stories let people get news without visiting the publisher's site or paying for a subscription. Dudley writes, "AI companies get the subscription and advertising revenue, instead of news sites that paid to report, edit and publish the stories."
Through the Online News Act, Canada now requires tech behemoths like Google and Meta that profit from using news sources to compensate publishers. With the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, the U.S. tried to pass protections similar to those adopted in Canada, but the bill faded in Congress in 2023.
Dudley writes, "It’s past time for a new version of the JCPA, addressing how AI companies
are changing the way people get information and preventing them from
suffocating the local news industry. . . . To help get the ball rolling, I encourage academics in the U.S. to
connect with Owen and Bridgman, who are willing to share their models,
and produce similar audits here."
Streams flow through farmland on their way to the Susquehanna River, in Union County, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Will Parson, Chesapeake Bay Program)
Pennsylvania hasn't been waiting for Washington lawmakers to move the stalled federal farm bill forward. In 2019, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a state farm bill that "provides farm-to-school grants, business development for farms looking to produce higher-value products, and farm workforce development," reports Lisa Held of Civil Eats. "It has been continually funded with bipartisan support — and it could serve as a model for other states."
Instead of passing a new farm bill in 2023, U.S. lawmakers have only reached agreement on repeated extensions of the expired 2018 Farm Bill; then punting, delaying, or otherwise putting the more contentious parts of a new Farm Bill on hold.
Additionally, under the Trump administration, the Department of Agriculture "has also proven willing to cancel contracts with farmers enrolled in programs funded by the federal bill," Held explains. In some cases, farmers enrolled in USDA programs were left on the hook to pay for improvements or farming changes that the USDA committed to covering through grants.
Because of its independent farm bill, Pennsylvania "is building stronger agricultural economies and communities, the kind of work a federal farm bill was designed for," Held reports. "Several other states are considering similar packages or are investing in agriculture one small bill at a time."
Even when a new federal Farm Bill is passed, it may not be what many farmers need. Pennsylvania is a state with highly diversified crops that are often left out of the national farm bill. Pennsylvania's farm bill goes further to address the unique needs of its farming communities.
“Pennsylvania has been trying really hard to create policies that broaden the reach of ag policy and include producers that have traditionally been ignored or left out," Lindsey Shapiro, a vegetable farmer and federal policy organizer for a sustainable farming company, told Held.
Many Pennsylvanians "attribute a good portion of that focus to the state’s secretary of Agriculture, Russell Redding, who has had the job for 13 (non-contiguous) years under three different governors," Held reports. "In Redding’s mind, states should start to think about their own laws as the central tool for agricultural policies, with complementary federal laws— not the other way around."
The proposed Franklin County prison would sit on land south of the Arkansas River, above. (Wikipedia photo)
Franklin County, Arkansas, might be small and red-leaning, but some of its residents are ready to duke it out with Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders over a $825 million, 3,000-bed prison she has planned for 815 acres of rocky Franklin County land, reports Cameron McWhirter of The Wall Street Journal. The state quietly purchased the large track of property for the proposed prison to avoid a bidding war.
When news of the planned prison began to circulate, many Franklin County residents were shocked and angered. "Marc Dietz, 55, a businessman and rancher who operates a family-owned radio station in Ozark, said many locals felt blindsided," McWhirter writes. Dietz told him, "We’re a small county, not enough votes, and she thought she’d run roughshod."
Location of Franklin County in Arkansas (Wikipedia map)
The resistance in Franklin County, where Sanders received 76% of the vote in her 2022 gubernatorial bid, dealt her a major setback in fulfilling her campaign promise to address the state's prison overcrowding problems. Sanders told the Journal, "Some people want this to be a fight over the money and different things. But what it really is is, do we care about the safety and security of our citizens, or do we not?”
The battle between Franklin County residents opposing the prison and state officials and lawmakers pushing to get it done "has seeped into Board of Corrections appointments, state budget discussions, a GOP primary — and some odder places," McWhirter explains. One resident has lined his farm fencing "with plastic skeletons and placards reading, 'This Prison is Going to Kill Arkansas.' Other residents joined RASH, or 'Republicans Against Sarah Huckabee.'"
Since Sanders announced the prison plan, "funding for it has stalled in the state Senate, blocked by a handful of Republican senators," McWhirter reports. "State Sen. Bart Hester said he and most GOP legislators back the Franklin County location, but a few holdouts. . . are blocking the move."
Mobile Health Clinics staffed by student pharmacists and supervising faculty provided health care in rural Ohio.
Dozens of states across the U.S. allow pharmacists to have expanded care status similar to the role a primary care medical professional would fill. In 2019, the Ohio legislature granted pharmacists "provider status," which means they are "recognized healthcare providers in the state insurance code and allowed to be reimbursed for services like chronic disease management and immunizations."
Using their change to "provider status" as a launching pad, leadership at Ohio Northern University's Raabe College of Pharmacy in rural Hardin County, Ohio, challenged themselves to reenvisioned how they could use their existing "HealthWise" service, which was originally intended for ONU employees, to address health care deficiencies throughout rural Hardin County and its rural county neighbors, reports Kay Miller Temple for Rural Health Information Hub.
During a Hardin County health needs planning meeting, Michael Rush, PharmD, who teaches residents and is the director of operations at ONU HealthWise, was inspired by a food truck he saw outside; he thought a mobile HealthWise might be the answer.
Location of ONU in Ohio
Once shared, Rush's idea gained traction, and numerous funding awards and grants led to Raabe College hiring a pharmacist and purchasing a bus, which "built out ONU HealthWise into the ONU HealthWise Mobile Health Clinic," Temple writes.
Today, ONU student pharmacists and their supervising faculty aboard the HealthWise Mobile unit provide a broad spectrum of health care, including "preventive health education, medication reconciliation, medication therapy management, and chronic disease state management," Temple reports. Health screenings, immunizations and specialty care are also addressed on-site.
The Healthwise Mobile unit services have continued to expand to meet their community's needs. When two rural pharmacies closed in 2024, the traveling care team filled the gaps.
Michelle Musser, director of ONU's Rural and Underserved Health Scholars Program, told Temple, "The students need those experiences of working in a pharmacy, different from the mobile outreach experiences. This closure allowed them to experience firsthand what a rural pharmacy closure actually does to rural communities."
Building on the first Healthwise Mobile Clinic's success, Raabe College is investing in a second van. Temple adds, "HealthWise will eventually be present in Hardin,
Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, and Wyandot Counties."
A California bill would give non-ultraprocessed food a seal and premium placement on grocery store shelves. (Unsplash photo)
A California lawmaker is promoting a bill that would give non-ultraprocessed foods a “California Certified” seal of approval and premium grocery shelf space to help educate consumers about which foods are the healthiest, report Nicole Norman and Rachel Bluth of Politico. "The legislation is the latest in a broader war on unhealthy food."
On a federal level, the Food and Drug Administration and USDA continue to tease out a national definition for ultraprocessed food. But California lawmakers created their own ultraprocessed food definition in October 2025, which labels ultraprocessed food as "any food or
beverage that contains flavor or color enhancers and that is high in
saturated fats, sodium or specific added sugars or sweeteners," Norman
and Bluth write.
Educating American consumers about the health risks of ultraprocessed foods and removing them from the national diet are "both popular and bipartisan," Politico reports. "It’s a cause popularized at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement."
Unsurprisingly, companies that make ultraprocessed foods are ramping up their opposition to new laws that decrease their market share of U.S. grocery budgets. Norman and Bluth write, "National manufacturers argue that regulatory burdens drive up the price for consumers and that state regulations on ingredients 'risk undermining the system.'"
California's approach, which labels healthy food, is a new twist on the labeling ultraprocessed food debate. Over the past decade, Latin countries have passed laws that require "warning" labels or color-coded nutritional labels on the front of boxes or wrappers.
In 2024, the FDA began considering requiring food labels that "might flag certain health risks, such as high levels of salt, sugar or saturated fat," The Wall Street Journal reports. According to its website, the FDA is currently "proposinga rule that would require a front-of-package (FOP) nutrition label on most packaged
foods to provide accessible, at-a-glance information to help consumers
quickly and easily identify how foods can be part of a healthy diet."
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.
