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.
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The government shutdown has left some farmers in a lurch. (Photo by Gozha Net, Unsplash)
Farmers are experiencing “financial heartburn” due to a combination of tariffs, high input costs, absence of financial assistance and the lack of agricultural data and other resources due to the government shutdown, Rachel Shin reported for Politico.
“Every day that the government isn’t open, there’s slightly more anxiety in farm country, especially as growers are harvesting and having to pay bills and having to pay off their bank,” Texas farmer Russell Williams told Shin. “There’s serious risks of farm bankruptcies this year.”
Farmers like Andy Jobman are unable to access USDA agricultural data that allows him to run his business or track market changes. Meanwhile, other farmers are unable to access USDA payments for land and farm loans, according to Iowa Corn Growers Association Chair Stu Swanson.
Though the Trump administration has considered rolling out aid to farmers, no action has been taken due to the government shutdown.
Some Republican lawmakers are worried about the situation and are trying to push for aid to farmers.
Food bank volunteers are often older. (Photo by Katherine Emery, The Maine Monitor)
Over the past 20 years, the average age of food pantry volunteers has climbed, leading some volunteers to reduce their hours or stop volunteering due to health issues. Meanwhile, there aren't enough younger volunteers to fill their spots.
In rural states like Maine, where food insecurity is a consistent issue, the "nearly 600 hunger relief agencies that get free and low-cost food from Good Shepherd Food Bank rely on volunteers," reports Elaine Appleton Grant of TheMaine Monitor. "This includes 250 food pantries as well as soup kitchens, senior centers, shelters, schools and youth programs."
Food banks thrive with a regularly scheduled staff of volunteers working planned shifts, but many younger generations are more likely to sign up for limited-time commitments. Grant explains, "Younger volunteers are increasingly seeking out what the Minnesota Alliance of Nonprofit Advancement calls 'event-based' volunteering — one-time efforts with no commitment to future shifts."
In many places, it's not that younger people don't want to volunteer, but they're often limited by working so many hours to pay their own bills. Grant writes, "Just 20% of millennials volunteer in Maine, half the rate of Gen Xers and baby boomers." Researcher Quixada Moore-Vissing told Grant, "I would categorize it as being an overwhelmed and overworked society."
Faced with a volunteer shortage in September, Second Harvest Heartland in Minnesota "had to delay the distribution of thousands of pounds of food," Grant reports. "As a result, food pantries in Minnesota and western Wisconsin got the food later than expected."
Cattle handlers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are struggling. (Photo by Marc Hardy via Farm Progress)
The resurgence of the New World screwworm blowfly and its flesh-eating larvae over the summer prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to shut down live cattle trade between the U.S. and Mexico in July. The closed border has hobbled businesses in both countries.
Feedlot owners in Texas, who make their living caring for Mexican cattle after they pass through the U.S. port of entry, have seen their herd sizes and incomes dwindle. Jennifer Carrico of Farm Progressreports, "Mark Rogers, owner of Rogers and Sons, Ltd. Custom Cattle Feeders in Dimmitt, Texas, has fed Mexican cattle for over 25 years. The border closure has lowered his cattle number to 70% of the feedyard's capacity compared to a year ago."
On the Mexican side of the border, Omar Gonzalez, who is Rogers' cattle broker, is also struggling. He told Carrico, "Screwworm isn't a problem up here in the Northern Plains of Mexico, and now we are having to find a place to put these cattle that normally go to the U.S."
Mexican ranchers aren't just looking for lots to hold cattle, but also for corn to feed them and packing facilities, which have typically been managed once the cattle were in the U.S.
As long as the border remains shut, the "decrease in cattle coming to the U.S. not only affects the feedyards but many others in the industry," Carrico writes. "Those who find themselves out of a job include truckers, employees at the ports of entry and those who help expedite getting the cattle to the border on the Mexican side and to the feedyards on the U.S. side."
Business owners in the U.S. and Mexico worry that the border will remain closed. Rogers told Carrico, "I'm not sure what I will do or my neighbors (will do) if the border doesn't reopen."
Ballad Health is one of several rural-serving hospitals training high school students.
Ballad Health is a rural hospital system in Tennessee that, like many rural hospitals, spends millions of dollars a year paying traveling nurses to cover staffing shortages. To address its recruitment woes, Ballad is working with area high schools to train its next generation of medical care workers, reports Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal.
Ballad's high school training academy includes students from "five northeast Tennessee school districts," Chen writes, "The first batch of 200 students will graduate in 2029, with their licensed practical nurse credentials and be eligible to work right away at Ballad, earning $23 an hour."
Building and implementing a medical training academy for high school students is time-intensive and expensive, so Ballad Health partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies, which "last year announced it was pumping $250 million into 10 programs in states including Tennessee, Texas and North Carolina to create a high school-to-healthcare pipeline," Chen explains.
Ballad isn't alone in its staffing struggles, and as the baby boomer
generation ages, demand for medical care staffing is expected to grow.
Chen reports, "Human resources advisory firm Mercer projects a deficit
of 100,000 healthcare workers by 2028."
Since 2006, Baystate Health system, which serves rural populations in western Massachusetts, has invested in a "high-school career program for jobs such as respiratory therapist and sterile processing technician," Chen adds. "Many participants have gone on to pursue additional training, and more than 900 have ended up working for Baystate in the past decade."
View of the 2008 Kingston, Tennessee, spill that prompted coal ash regulations. (Photo by Brian Stansberry, Wikimedia CC)
Almost every state in the union has coal ash stored in ponds, landfills and mines that is likely leaching toxic heavy metals into groundwater and wells. Especially now that the Trump administration is busy promoting coal energy production, it's an opportune time for local reporting on the possible presence and handling of coal ash in readers' neighborhoods.
The unfortunate truth is that coal ash can be found in a lot of places. "There are some 700 to 1,425 massive dumps of coal ash," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "States and utilities are doing little or nothing to remedy the threat that it presents."
What is coal ash? "When coal is burned, it produces several waste byproducts," Davis writes. "The fancy name for all of it is 'coal combustion residuals.' The common name is coal ash." Where is it found? Any plant that produces electricity from coal would leave behind coal ash as a byproduct. Coal operators put coal ash in surface impoundments, also known as ponds, in on-site landfills, or some recycle it into usable materials.
Why is it a problem? Coal ash contains many toxic substances, especially heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead, and lithium. "It also contains radium, which is radioactive," Davis explains. Many coal operators have left piles of coal ash to fester and poison land and water sources.
What can be done about it? Cleaning up coal ash ponds can involve draining the surface water and capping the pond or entirely removing the ash from the pond to a lined landfill or for beneficial reuse (clean closure). Earthjustice provides a good resource document here.
Story ideas:
How many coal ash disposal areas are there in your area? Are there coal ash sites not on an official list? Why not? Are utilities acknowledging clear responsibility for existing sites?
Have any of the coal ash sites in your area been cleaned up to a nominal safety standard? Have they been moved to a landfill? Is it lined and capped? Safe from water? Is the new disposal site safer than the old one?
What waters are near your area’s coal ash sites? Are the sites near a river, lake or estuary? Are they above an aquifer? Is that aquifer a drinking water source? Has anyone tested for water pollution and, if so, what were the findings?
Historically, have there been pollution incidents in your area related to coal ash sites?
What level of responsibility are states and utilities taking for stabilization, cleanup or maintenance of coal ash sites in your area?
What do people in your state think about using coal ash in the concrete on local roads? Is it being done? Do people know about it?
Resources:
Environmental Protection Agency: The EPA is the primary federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing coal ash dumps to make them safer and less polluting.
State environmental agencies: In some cases, the EPA has already devolved coal-ash cleanup responsibilities to state environmental agencies. See a list here.
Earthjustice: This environmental advocacy and litigation group has for years specialized in coal ash, among other issues. The best source is Lisa Evans.
American Coal Ash Association: An industry lobby group aimed mainly at lightening the coal ash regulatory burden on utilities and promoting the reuse of coal ash — and the idea that doing so is safe.
Whether it's discovering a ginormous toad, finding the most gooseberries or uncovering troves of fossils, when kids venture into the great unknown of rural places, adventures unfold. A new graphic novel by cartoonist Tiffany Everett, Diary of a Nature Nerd, celebrates all the discoveries and learning nature nerding youth can make while tramping over hill and dale. "Everett encourages readers to explore new places, keep journals about what they encounter, and think like scientists," reports John R. Platt of The Revelator.
Rural school districts with teacher hiring and retention challenges turned to 4-day school weeks as an employment perk that also saves districts money. The 4-day school week schedule has been criticized as cutting too deeply into student learning time, and yet some rural schools are keeping the shortened schedule because it's a practical fix. "The schedule is especially popular with rural communities, where students and teachers often have to travel long distances to get to school," reports Anya Petrone Slepyan of The Daily Yonder. "But when it comes to assessing how the four-day school week affects students’ educational outcomes, the results are inconclusive."
At the end of the 3 1/2-mile hike, the students grab their backpacks and head home. (All Trails photo)
Instead of sitting in detention for breaking school rules, some high
schoolers at Morse High School in Maine have opted to take mandatory
hikes instead. Morse counselor Leslie Trundy was inspired to start the
program after attending an outdoor conference, reports Madi Smith of NPR.
Trundy told Smith, "I hoped that time in the woods, like, I could sort
of take the skills that I have on the road with them, or on the trail,
and be a listener for them and [while students] pay back the time to the school and sort
of serve their consequence, [they] also receive more care and attention."
While growing up on a farm may sound wholesome and safe, farms can be dangerous places for children and young adults. The list of risks is long and can include everything from cows and barbed-wire fencing to big tractors and grain bins. To help farming families build safety awareness and habits, the National Farm Medicine Center and National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety support the "Cultivate Safety" website, which offers free resources in English and Spanish. For a quick safety check, Rural Mutual shares its "Top Tips" list for farmers and kids to review.
Often remembered as the voice of Sam the Snowman from the classic 1964 Christmas television special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Burl Ives also acted and sang. For children who need to calm down after rowdy play or to get ready for bed, Ives' recording of "The Little White Duck and Other Children’s Favorites" is delightfully soothing. Ives’s collection of "traditional folk songs for children is as much fun for the kids as it is for the adults (I dare to say)," writes Jan Pytalski of The Daily Yonder. "Ives was central in promoting traditional folk tunes all the way back in 1940s and continued performing for many decades after."
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that active military members will be paid during the government shutdown, Deepa Shivaram and Luke Garrett reported for NPR.
The funds are expected to come from around $8 billion of “unused research and development funding from last year,” Shivaram and Garrett wrote.
A bill called the “Pay Our Troops Act” also has been introduced in Congress to address growing concerns of military members who are unable to feed their families. No action has been taken on the bill.
“Military families deserve better than to have our livelihoods tied to political stalemates,” Besa Pinchotti, CEO of the National Military Family Association said in a statement.
The current stalemate is largely caused by disagreements on funding for health care policies such as Medicaid. Congress must pass an appropriations bill, which is a bill that would fund the government, to end the shutdown.
Many other federal workers are also facing financial burdens and layoffs due to the shutdown. Members of Congress, however, still receive paychecks, though some have refused to take their pay because they believe it is wrong to do so while the military and other federal workers are not getting paid.
Silica dust in coal mines causes black lung disease. (Adobe Stock photo)
In response to the Trump administration's refusal to enforce federal limits on silica dust, dozens of miners and their families will protest today "arguing the Trump administration has failed to protect them from black lung disease, an incurable illness caused by inhaling coal and silica dust," reports Lisa Friedman of The New York Times.
"Labor unions, Democrats and a growing number of miners accuse the Trump administration of ignoring workers while using hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies to bolster the companies that operate coal plants and mining operations," Friedman writes.
The ceiling on silica exposure was "supposed to take effect in April. But the National Sand Stone and Gravel Association, the National Mining Association and other industry groups asked a federal appeals court to block the rule, citing the cost to mine operators," Friedman reports.
The Trump administration could have moved forward with applying the silica rule, but instead opted to "pause" enforcement while the court case plays out.
Gary Hairston, a retired West Virginia coal miner, who is the president of the National Black Lung Association, told Friedman, "The companies might be getting a handout, but the miners ain’t getting none."
While miners wait, the black lung disease continues to spike, with doctors diagnosing the disease in younger coal workers. Friedman writes, "Once considered a disease of older miners, black lung is now being diagnosed in workers in their 30s and 40s."
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that "President Trump cares deeply about unleashing America’s energy potential, as well as standing up for those who fuel our country' like coal miners," Friedman reports.
More recently, the Trump administration "petitioned the court to prevent labor unions and a lung health association from intervening in the case," Friedman writes. "This month it asked for another court delay, citing the government shutdown."
The deadline for newsrooms to apply to host a reporter with financial support from Report for America is Oct. 20. A sample application can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/4oLOt71
Report for America is an organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
Host newsrooms receive the following benefits:
A reporter committed to the newsroom for two years
Half of the salary of the reporter will be paid during the first year and 33% of the salary the second year
Training and mentoring for the reporter
Assistance with fundraising to cover the newsroom’s portion of the reporter’s salary through Report for America’s Local News Sustainability Team
Access to a network of other host newsrooms for collaboration
An explosion at a rural Tennessee ammunition plant that killed 16 people on Oct. 10 has “shaken the small, tight-knit communities in Hickman and Humphreys Counties,” Ashley Ahn reported for The New York Times.
“Witnesses said the explosion was so powerful that it rattled homes at least a dozen miles away and generated a plume of smoke large enough to register on the weather radar of a Nashville television station,” Ahn wrote.
The ammunition plant, which manufactures demolition charges and explosives, is a major contributor to the economies of rural communities in Hickman and Humphreys counties.
The police and other agencies such as the FBI are still investigating the cause of the explosion.
“You want me to be honest? It’s hell,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said in a press conference. “It’s hell on us. It’s hell on everybody involved.”
For rural communities where everyone knows everybody, the devastation of the tragedy is personal. Many law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene of the explosion knew workers who were killed and families who were affected.
And it hit hard for Davis, who had to give briefings to close friends and neighbors.
"It starts hitting me who these folks really are to me — it’s hard for me to hold that emotion,” Davis said in an interview with Emily Cochrane for The New York Times.
Telehealth appointments can offer rural residents more frequent visits with their doctor. (Adobe Stock photo)
States used federal funding from the Digital Equity Act grants to help rural residents access technology and learn to use it. But this spring, President Donald Trump declared the program "woke" and canceled its $2.75 billion in funding, reports Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News. The funding cut caused local and state rural digital literacy offerings to close.
The Digital Equity Act cites exactly who the funding is intended to help, including "low-income households, older residents, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups," Tribble explains. "Politicians, researchers, librarians, and advocates said defunding the program . . . jeopardizes efforts to help rural and underserved residents participate in the modern economy and lead healthier lives."
Part of the program had deployed teachers, known as "digital navigators," to help connect rural people with computers, cell phones and tablets, along with the skills to use them. Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, "recalled how 'they helped grandpas in Iowa check prescriptions online or laid-off factory workers fill out job applications,'" Tribble writes.
Improving rural health is a key reason advocates have continued to push for digital equality in more remote places. Tribble explains, "Nearly 3 million people in America live in areas with shortages of medical professionals and where modern telehealth services are often inaccessible because of poor internet connections."
When internet access and technology know-how are paired, rural residents can benefit from telehealth appointments, prescription ordering, and easier access to health-related information and monitoring.
Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, told Tribble, "The digital divide is not over." Tribble reports, "The nonprofit filed a lawsuit Oct. 7 seeking to force [the Trump administration] to distribute the money."
The first report issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" commission alarmed America's "Big Ag" leaders; however, the agricultural industry's intensely focused response appears to have reduced some of the commission's concerns over pesticides, report Amudalat Ajasa and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post.
Released in May, the first MAHA report was Kennedy's initial attempt to define the reasons for chronic illness in American children. It didn't completely bash all pesticide use in American farming, but instead it "raised questions about the health effects of two commonly used pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine," the Post reports. "The report’s rhetoric frustrated powerful agriculture groups," such as CropLife America, a trade group for pesticide companies, and the American Soybean Association.
In an effort to influence the commission, the agricultural industry launched lobbying "blitzes" and "coordinated social media campaigns," Ajasa and Roubein explain. "Their efforts seemingly paid off. The Trump administration’s MAHA strategy document, released last month, did not call for restrictions on pesticides."
While big agriculture companies may be relieved at MAHA's softer stance on pesticides, some of Kennedy’s allies "believe it went too far in bowing to the agriculture industry," Ajasa and Roubein write. But supporters of the strategy claim that MAHA's focus on innovative solutions and technology can benefit American health and farmers.
Meanwhile, Kennedy is still tasked with rooting out the causes of chronic childhood diseases. MAHA's strategy report "notably avoids proposing restrictions on commonly used products such as glyphosate and atrazine," the Post reports. "The report pledges that the EPA will work with the food and agriculture industries to ensure the public has 'awareness and confidence' in the agency’s 'robust review procedures.'"
Some MAHA activists remain frustrated by the report's failure to call out pesticide use and the Trump administration's appointments to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Idyllic autumn scenery draws thousands of tourists to New England each fall. (Adobe Stock photo)
As fall blows into rural New England, it brings trees decked out in glorious fall shades and plenty of tourists. Residents and local governments in some of the most popular "leaf-peeping" places have had enough. "Locals are pushing for road closures and parking restrictions," reports Jared Mitovich of The Wall Street Journal. Some local stores have started hawking wares that poke fun at tourists.
Despite the tourism revenue "leaf-lookers" generate for some areas, the influx of hundreds of additional people in a single season can overwhelm smaller towns. "They’ve complained about TikTokers trespassing onto countryside farms. . .near-fist fights over trailhead parking — not to mention unsafe traffic blockages on narrow roads," Mitovich writes.
The sheer number of fall tourists to Vermont -- a state with less than 650,000 residents -- explains some of the stress. Vermonters welcome roughly 2.5 million visitors "who come for the idyllic autumnal vistas," Mitovich reports. "A growing number of residents say influencer culture is fueling bad behavior."
Some small businesses have turned to humor to cope by "selling
collectible figures titled 'Influencer Trespassing on Private Road': a
woman with a long braid under a wide-brimmed hat, smartphone in hand, in
front of a leafy landscape," Mitovich adds. Another figurine includes a
row of tiny vehicles causing a traffic jam.
The tiny town of Pomfret, Vt., opted to close itself off rather than adapt to the onslaught of tourists. "For the third straight fall season. . . signage will turn away drivers trying to get a glimpse." A Pomfret sugarhouse owner, Michael Doten, supports the blockade, even though it means he sells less maple syrup. He told Mitovich, "People were throwing trash and they were trespassing."
Beyond small towns trying to manage carloads of tourists, popular hiking trails such as Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire get swamped, too. This fall, Franconia park managers "introduced one-way hiking patterns, doubled the number of port-a-potties and increased staffing," Mitovich reports.
