Social Security recipients can still use phone to contact SSA; however, no paper checks allowed after Sept. 30

SSA had planned to disallow several types of
customer service phone calls. (Farm Journal photo)

In a quick turnabout, the Social Security Administration changed its "plan to demand more in-office visits from beneficiaries after leaders said they would no longer allow benefit recipients to use telephone services to confirm their identification or change direct-deposit information," reports Chris Clayton of Farm Journal. The changes were planned to begin on March 31, but SSA delayed any changes until April 14. Recipients can still contact SSA customer service by phone.

The reversal is a relief for "elderly and disabled residents in rural America who were about to face hours-long drives to Social Security offices if they don't know how to use the internet or have access to the Social Security Administration's website," Clayton explains. "The changes were set to affect millions of rural residents, including roughly one in five farm households."

Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, told Farm Journal, "We are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country's most vulnerable populations. . . . Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person's identity."

When the updated policy begins on April 14, "individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office," Clayton adds. "The decision to change requirements for Social Security beneficiaries also comes as the Department of Government Efficiency is pressing to close at least 47 Social Security offices nationally."

"There is little hard data breaking down percentages of rural residents who rely on Social Security," Clayton reports. "A 2011 study by the Center for Rural Strategies showed rural counties rely on Social Security benefits nearly twice as much in terms of total personal income than urban counties."

There is a separate Social Security change that some beneficiaries may need to plan for soon. Clayton adds, "People will have to stop receiving their payments by check and provide some details for electronic payment. The SSA will stop issuing paper checks at the end of September." 

Some Republican legislators push for NPR and PBS cuts over alleged bias. Rural stations depend on public funds.

PBS stations in rural areas are more dependent on
tax payer money. (PBS graphic)

During recent hearings with heads of PBS and NPR, Republican legislators zeroed in on alleged reporting bias to justify "dismantling and defunding the nation’s public broadcasting system," reports David Bauder of The Associated Press. "The nation’s public broadcasting system is facing perhaps the biggest threat to its existence since it was established in 1967. . . . The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

While some Republicans have routinely "grumbled that PBS and NPR news programming leans left, their efforts to cut or eliminate funding usually fade because legislators want to protect their local stations — 336 of them for PBS alone, with those in rural areas most heavily dependent on taxpayer money," Bauder explains. The fact that President Donald Trump said he would 'love to' see both services cut off from federal dollars may keep GOP defunding efforts alive.

The hearings allowed "a succession of GOP lawmakers to complain bitterly about alleged bias, particularly from NPR stations, making clear it was not an issue that was going away quietly," Bauder writes. "Democrats characterized the hearing as a distraction from more important issues, like this week’s revelation that a journalist from the Atlantic was included in a text chain of Trump administration officials detailing a U.S. military strike in Yemen."

Broadcasting leaders acknowledged some past errors in judgment. "NPR President Katherine Maher said the radio network was wrong to dismiss what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop as a non-story," Bauder adds. "Although saying she is not responsible for editorial content, Maher detailed efforts by NPR to ensure a variety of political viewpoints are represented."

PBS chief executive Paula Kerger "emphasized the service that PBS provides to local communities, particularly with its educational programming for children, and said she is worried for the future of its smaller stations," Bauder reports. Kerger told the committee, “This is an existential moment for them.”

Canadian travelers boycott visits to U.S., and the loss of Canadian dollars could 'upend local economies.'

Fearful of problems at the U.S.-Canada border, many
Canadians have canceled U.S. travel.  (Adobe Stock photo)

In a response to U.S. annexation and tariff threats, many Canadians are boycotting U.S. travel and opting to spend their vacation dollars in other countries. "Canadians have long been the top international travelers to the U.S.," reports Allison Pohle of The Wall Street Journal. The loss of Canadian travel dollars "threatens to upend local economies across the U.S. . . . Even a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses."

Craig Treulieb, a Canadian who planned a celebratory trip to the U.S. with his wife, serves as an example of how costly the loss of Canadian visitors can be. "They spent about $3,500 on flights, hotels, an Airbnb booking and a rental car, with plans to spend freely on food and excursions during the nearly two-week trip," Pohle writes. "The day after (former Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau told business leaders that (President Donald) Trump might be serious about annexing Canada, they canceled the trip. They will instead travel to British Columbia."

Canadians' concern over border delays has kept some from visiting the U.S. simply because they fear they won't be allowed home. "Canadians say Trump’s threats of annexation have infuriated and scared them, so much so that they won’t cross the border to spend time or money," Pohle reports. "Recent news about lengthy detentions for tourists and green-card holders has further deterred would-be travelers."

Air travel to the U.S. from Canada has also decreased. "Calgary-based WestJet says it has 'observed a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean among Canadian travelers,'" Pohle writes. "In tiny Whitefish, Mont., which is just 60 miles from the border of British Columbia, spending by Canadians was down 14% in January compared with a year ago."

Two million rural Americans live in 'dead zones' that lack health care providers and reliable internet service

'Dead zone' counties have three things in common: They lack access to high-speed and reliable internet, primary care providers, and behavioral health specialists. (KFF Health News graphic)

In U.S. communities that lack both medical care providers and dependable internet service, residents tend to "live sicker and die younger than others in America," report Sarah Jane Tribble and Holly K. Hacker for KFF Health News. KFF Health News calls regions that lack both services “dead zones.” Roughly 2.7 million Americans live in dead zones, and the vast majority of those zones are rural.

"In 2023, 83% of residents in non-metropolitan, or rural, counties had access to broadband, compared to over 90% of metropolitan residents," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. Out of the 2.7 million Americans who live in dead zones, "two million, or 70% of them, are from rural counties. That means the rate at which rural residents live in these shortage areas is five times higher than the urban rate."

In some cases, communities leverage broadband service and telehealth care to fill in for a lack of providers; but the absence of both options leaves millions disadvantaged. "Compared with those in other regions, patients across the rural South, Appalachia, and remote West are most often unable to make a video call to their doctor or log into their patient portals," KFF reports. "Both are essential ways to participate in the U.S. medical system."

Without reliable high-speed internet, it's hard to attract and keep medical providers in more remote parts of the country. At the same time, poor connectivity means telehealth care isn't an option. "Connectivity dead zones persist in American life despite at least $115 billion lawmakers have thrown toward fixing the inequities," Tribble and Hacker explain. "Federal broadband efforts are fragmented and overlapping, with more than 133 funding programs administered by 15 agencies, according to a 2023 federal report."

The contrast between "the digital haves and have-nots" is stark. "The KFF Health News analysis found that counties with the highest rates of internet access and health care providers correlated with higher life expectancy, less chronic disease, and key lifestyle factors such as higher incomes and education levels," KFF reports. In many rural counties, the lack of reliable high-speed internet access leads to the opposite, where residents tend to live unhealthier, poorer and shorter lives."

Rural advocates push for plan to install fiber optic infrastructure as the best way to close the digital divide

Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from American Community Survey data

The question of how to close the digital divide between rural America and the rest of the country may not have a simple answer; however, many advocates insist that allowing Low Earth Orbit satellite connection instead of fiber optic build-outs shouldn't be part of the federally subsidized solution.

"In early March, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick proposed changes to a federal broadband connectivity program that would favor Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. "Critics say Lutnick’s proposal to prioritize LEO will worsen the digital divide by abandoning rural communities without the long-term economic benefits of fiber optic infrastructure."

In Washington, most of the battle over rural internet installation centers on the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, with some Republicans griping about its regulatory attachment to fiber technology. "BEAD aims to connect 25 million Americans with high-speed internet in all 56 states and territories," Melotte explains. "Lutnick said he wants to make the program 'technology-neutral' by shifting the focus to LEO satellite connectivity."

While shifting BEAD funding to LEO might lead to faster internet roll-out in rural areas, some experts point out that LEO is a sub-standard internet offering when compared to fiber optic. Melotte explains, "Benton Institute’s Broadband & Society Director of Policy Engagement Drew Garner told The Daily Yonder that fiber optic infrastructure is faster, more reliable, and a larger driver of economic growth compared to satellite internet technology."

BEAD aims to provide fast, reliable internet access for all communities -- even those in remote regions -- while creating a nimble platform for further technology developments. "Garner wrote in a March 4 press release, 'Secretary Lutnick’s reported meddling is likely to leave millions of Americans with broadband that is slower, less reliable, and more expensive,'" Mellote writes. "Fifty-six percent of non-metropolitan counties have low access to broadband, compared to the national average."

Mike Romano, executive vice president of the NTCA – the Rural Broadband Association. said "that BEAD funding is critical in the effort to connect areas where larger internet providers haven’t previously had the financial incentive to invest," Melotte reports. "After connecting all unserved households with high-speed internet, states and territories can invest in programs that advance broadband equity, like remote learning and telehealth services."

As tariff wars continue, Farm Journal asks farmers their opinion on tariffs as a trade tool

As the U.S. continues to levy or threaten heavy tariffs to renegotiate international trade terms, Farm Journal asked farmers how they feel about being caught in trade war crosshairs again.

"As both targeted and blanket tariffs are applied, retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agriculture are also caught in the middle of the latest trade war," reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "How do farmers feel about this?"

AgWeb's latest poll asked, “Do you support President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiation strategy?” Morgan writes, "Even though the majority of farmers say they don’t support Trump’s use of tariffs, according to the AgWeb poll, it wasn’t an overwhelming majority."

Farm Journal polled 2,891 farmers in March 2025. (Farm Journal graph)

The poll's second question asked, “Do you believe USDA will compensate farmers for losses if agriculture is affected by a trade war?” Morgan notes, "The responses were much more mixed."

• 36% responded “no”
• 34% said “yes”
• 30% responded they were “unsure”

"What are farmers saying in the field? Michelle Jones, a fourth-generation farmer in south central Montana was asked the question about if she supports Trump’s use of tariffs on 'AgriTalk' last week," Morgan reports. 'No, definitely not,' Jones said. 'I don’t think that tariffs are an effective negotiation strategy, and I also don’t think that we’re truly being surgical in how we are applying them.'"

Not everyone agrees with Jones' assessment. "Some farmers and those in agriculture support the president’s heavy use of tariffs," Morgan writes. "One of those is Bubba Horwitz of Bubba Trading, who focuses on the commodity markets. . . . Horwitz said on AgriTalk, 'I think it’s a great tool to use. . . .You can bargain with those tariffs, you can do whatever you want.'"

At a recent interview with Fox News, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins "defended the president’s use of tariffs, also saying he’s holding Canada accountable," Morgan reports. "Rollins pointed out the president has been very clear that there will be an interim period where the economy readjusts."

Morgan adds, "Ninety-two percent of economists think Trump’s strategy of using tariffs as a negotiating tool won’t benefit U.S. agriculture in the long run."

Federal layoffs leave many military veterans unemployed. If firings continue, the 'burden will only grow on veterans.'

Veterans make up roughly 30% of federal civilian
employees. (Adobe Stock photo)

U.S. veterans are losing their jobs as the Trump administration continues to terminate federal employees to cut costs. "From layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Pentagon purge of archives that documented diversity in the military, veterans have been acutely affected by Trump’s actions," reports Stephen Groves of The Associated Press. "The burden will only grow on veterans, who make up roughly 30% of the over 2 million civilians who work for the federal government."

Even though more than half of all military veterans voted for Trump, many openly reject his current money-saving tactics. "At a series of town halls last week, veterans angrily confronted Republican members as they defended the cuts made under Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency," Groves writes. Most Republican lawmakers have continued back Trump's approach to saving dollars, even if it cost veterans jobs.

While Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson "advised his members to skip the town halls and claimed that they were being filled with paid protesters, some Republicans were still holding them and trying to respond to the criticism," Groves explains. "At a town hall, Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw told the audience, 'We’re learning about this stuff at the speed of light, the way you are. I think there’s been some babies thrown out with the bath water here, but we’re still gathering information on it.'"

Some terminated veterans "have now been put on administrative leave, but a sense of dread and confusion is still hanging over much of the federal workforce," Groves reports. "Other [veterans] are angry they have been portrayed as deadweight and cut from jobs they felt played a direct role in helping veterans get health care."

Democrats see veteran firings as a way to recast their image and "have zeroed in on the cause of protecting veterans," Groves writes. "In both the House and the Senate, Democrats have introduced legislation to shield veterans from the mass layoffs. And when Trump spoke to Congress this month, many lawmakers invited veterans as their guests."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who is an Iraq War veteran and former assistant secretary at the VA, told Groves, “They said Donald Trump promised to watch out for them. And the first thing he does is fire them.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, who is also a veteran, was unsure if the firings would shift  veteran political alliances but said the terminations give Democrats an opportunity to "hammer home a message," Groves reports. He told Groves, “Elon Musk and his buddies would rather just deal with the bottom line and try to save billions of dollars so they can have more tax cuts at the expense of veterans.”

Researchers explore bringing medical care to rural Vermonters by adding telehealth hubs to libraries

Almost two-thirds of Vermonters live in rural places.
(Adobe Stock photo)

A lack of rural health care providers often leaves residents with few ways to see medical providers without long-distance traveling. While telehealth services are an option in some smaller communities, a lack of reliable internet can get in the way. A new grant in Vermont aims to answer both challenges by exploring "the feasibility of offering telehealth services at the state’s 185 libraries," reports Chris Teale of Route Fifty. Library telehealth hubs would allow medical care in some of the state's most remote areas.

The research project, known as VITAL-VT, aims to remove obstacles Vermonters face when trying to access health care. Teale explains, "The majority are in rural communities located sometimes hours away from providers. . . . Accessing telehealth is also a challenge due to slow connectivity and gaps in understanding of how to use technology."

Along with a grant from the University of Vermont, the Vermont Community Broadband Board, which coordinates the state's broadband reach, is also supporting VITAL-VT. Robert Fish, VCBB’s deputy director, told Teale, “Everybody is pretty spread out. . . Most of the major health care providers [are in] larger towns, which makes getting access to good health care very difficult for rural Vermonters. . . . Telehealth reduces the need to do that, it's also access to experts around the world you can connect with. It also saves money for the provider, the outcomes can be better, it's better for the environment, there's less transportation, and it also allows more people to participate in care.”

FAIR Health, a nonprofit that looks to make health insurance and health care costs more transparent, "found that telehealth utilization and insurance claims have increased nationally and in every region of the U.S. except the West," Teale reports. "The Northeast region saw a 3.1% jump in telehealth claims." VITAL-VT hopes to pave new ways for telehealth services to reach and care for its residents even in the most rural parts of the state.

A small town saves its local newspaper with citizen-led fundraising and a 2-year search for a new owner

There's a new paper in town for La Conner, Wash.

When their small-town newspaper closed, the citizens of La Conner, Wash., didn't sit idly by and let their community become another "news desert." Instead, town activists "raised $70,000 and worked for two years to find someone to save it," reports Eric Wilkinson of KING-TV. Last week, the newly revived paper celebrated its "first day of delivery as the La Conner Community News, keeping a journalistic tradition that has connected townspeople for more than a century."

The newspaper's new owner, Kari Mar, said she bought the paper because she "saw an opportunity to make a difference at a time when facts and accuracy are critically important," Wilkinson writes. She told Wilkinson, "The pain of not having a local newspaper was pretty widely felt. There was no place to send an obituary. The town council didn't have a way to get the word out. Firefighters were having a fundraiser. They couldn't tell anybody about it. The need for the paper was palpable."

Small newspaper closures have become almost commonplace. Wilkinson reports, "Over the past 20 years, more than 3,200 newspapers have vanished, nationwide. Since 2004 Washington state has lost 20% of its local papers. . . . The situation is so dire, that a bill is being considered [in Washington] that would tax social media platforms and search engines to help fund the state's struggling newsrooms."

Meanwhile, folks in La Conner are celebrating a special win for local journalism. "The La Conner Community News already has more than 900 subscribers in a community of fewer than 1,000 people," Wilkinson writes. Mar told him, "We have almost everybody. . . .That's pretty good."

The U.S. isn't ready for another pandemic, but it could happen anyway. As bird flu spreads, the threat grows.

Bird flu, or H5N1, kills between 90% and 100% of infected
chickens, normally within 48 hours. (Adobe Stock photo)

Whether it's high egg prices or the fear of another pandemic, many Americans want bird flu, also known as avian flu, contained and a long-term answer found. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., however, "recently mused about a novel way to contain bird flu, which is to let it 'run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,'" reports Hanna Rosin of The Atlantic. "This could involve millions of birds dying slower, more horrible deaths."

While studying birds -- not necessarily chickens -- that are immune to bird flu is important work that could help breed more resilient flocks, many scientists would not recommend letting bird flu "run through" flocks "because it would only give the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu more opportunities to evolve, which it’s already doing at what experts see as an alarming rate," Rosin explains. "So far, the outbreak has caused one human death in the United States and several others overseas."

Looking back, the U.S. government had a brief window to act and contain the virus in the spring of 2024, when bird flu surfaced in a small number of dairy cows. Science reporter Dr. Katie Wu explained to Rosin how the virus spread: "Instead, they let business proceed as usual and dairy cattle move all over the place throughout their lifetime. They gave the virus more opportunities to spread. That should have been a five-alarm-fire level of: We need to ratchet up this response and make sure that the virus does not move any further than it already has. And that did not happen."

Will the virus reach a tipping point from a growing concern to a full-blown epidemic? That point is uncertain and perhaps there are more important concerns. Wu told Rosin, "I think the right question to be asking is: How prepared would we be if this truly escalated to that point? And the answer is: not at all. Like, not even a little bit. It’s impossible to say with any kind of certainty, Oh, there’s exactly, you know, a 14.7 percent chance this is going to turn into a pandemic. . . .We can’t know those things. A lot of this is about randomness, about how we continue to respond, about just vagaries of the virus that people don’t fully understand yet."

Covid-19 and Americans' response to it still has many citizens weary from years of mask debates and misinformation wars. Wu told Rosin, "The public is still really fatigued from having to respond to all of that — there was a lot of trust in public health and science eroded during that time —and I think because of the nature of the slow burn of all this, just slowly percolating through animals, affecting certain farm animals, maybe sort of affecting some aspects of the food supply."

To read more about how bird flu could mutate into something much more harmful for humans, read Rosin's full transcript here or listen to the podcast. To explore a more complete snapshot of bird flu's effect on the the U.S. economy, click here.