Cash-strapped Montana will be the second state to implement new federal Medicaid work rules

Montana will be the second state to implement Medicaid
work rules. (Photo by John Kakuk, Unsplash)

Despite depleted coffers, Montana is moving forward with its rollout of Medicaid's new work rules beginning on July 1. 

The state will be the second, after Nebraska, to require its residents to "prove they’re working to keep their coverage," reports Katheryn Houghton of KFF Health News. "That’s six months ahead of the federal deadline for states to implement Medicaid work rules for millions of enrollees."

The new work requirements are part of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Congress passed in 2025, but the onus of implementation falls on state health departments. Houghton explains, "The federal spending law requires states to check every six months whether millions of Medicaid enrollees work, go to school, or volunteer at least 80 hours a month, or qualify for an exemption."

Adding new staff and technology infrastructure to prepare for and execute work checks "takes time and money," Houghton writes. "Health policy analysts say that Montana’s budget crunch is a hint of the challenges to come nationwide."

The OBBBA also cut federal Medicaid dollars flowing to states by around $1 trillion over 10 years. The lopped-off funds represent the "largest pool of federal funding for states," Houghton explains. Joan Alker, a researcher focused on health coverage, told KFF, "States are the ones that are gonna have to do the dirty work of implementing cuts."

To address its shortfall, Montana plans to "stall rate increases for healthcare providers that were due July 1," KFF reports. However, clinicians say they need the rate bump to address staffing shortages and growing patient waitlists, which they attribute to already low Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Montana residents currently face long wait times to "access public assistance," Houghton adds. "And many can lose coverage at renewal time because of paperwork issues. … All these problems reflect a national challenge to connect people to care through strained public assistance programs."

Opinion: Rural America needs Congress to require data center developers and the federal government to disclose plans

Nondisclosure agreements leave community members in the dark.
(Photo by Daniel Bernard, Unsplash)

When urban and suburban Americans don't want to live near an institution or business designed to address a larger societal problem, they send it to rural America. Prisons, power plants and landfills are a few examples, writes Rotimi Adeoye in his opinion for The New York Times. "These days, two more intrusions have been added to the list: immigrant detention centers and data centers. … Congress should address this problem."

While it may seem logical to assume the federal government would be required to share information with smaller townships before purchasing large buildings or tracts of land in town, that isn't the case.

In Tremont, Pa., a tiny town with roughly 300 people, the federal government purchased "a 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse that had been a Big Lots distribution center" to repurpose into an immigration center designed to hold 7,500 detainees, Adeoye writes. By the time the township's supervisor learned of the sale, the deed had already been signed.

In other instances, small-town residents learn that a hyperscale data center is being planned in their community only when rezoning paperwork is filed. Nondisclosure agreements between data center developers, landowners and town officials enable companies to keep area residents in the dark.

In both cases, transactions are "intended to be finished long before the people who would have to live with the consequences could ask questions about what was being planned," Adeyoe adds.

To help rural Americans know and have some agency in deciding what gets built in their communities, Adeyoe suggests that Congress "require companies planning large-scale facilities to publicly disclose who they are and what they intend to build before they seek to change how the land is used, and to notify local governments before acquiring property in their communities. … The same principle applies to federal agencies."

Requiring public disclosure does not mean that a detention or data center facility won't eventually be constructed in a rural community, but it "would stop it from being built in secret," Adeyoe adds. "Rural communities are often fighting both kinds of facilities simultaneously, often without knowing who they are fighting or why, because neither the federal government nor private developers are currently required to tell them anything before the decisions are made."

Trump administration announces sharp increase in biodiesel fuel requirements, giving corn and soybean farmers a lift

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," reports Joshua Baethge of Farm Progress. 

Pennsylvania's state farm bill could serve as a blueprint for other states

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." 

Quick hits: Defining rural; WD-40 secret society; electric vehicle stations keep growing; a mental health hotline for teens, staffed by teens

What is rural? A recently recorded webinar addresses that question and adds context. "In 2025, many agencies across the federal government released new data allowing users to understand how rural populations and areas are changing. This webinar will provide a brief history of rural population over time and review how the term 'rural' is defined," reports the Rural Health Information Hub. "Changes to rural areas, as identified by Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), with their most recent September 2025 data release, will be highlighted." Find session handouts here, and the audio version here. The recorded YouTube discussion is shared above. 

Carmel-by-the-Sea coastline (Wikipedia photo)

Whimsical or fantastic, home addresses in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, had a breezy flair, free of physical address numbers, but that's about to change. "For 109 years, residents have used directional descriptors. . . . such as Sea Castle, Nut House and A Turn of Fraise," reports Hailey Branson-Potts of the Los Angeles Times. "This spring, every government building, business and house in the town of 3,200 people will be assigned a number." Many residents have long resisted the move, but "complaints about missed packages and mail-order medications, as well as trouble setting up banking accounts and utilities, kept piling up."

WD-40 can remove chewing gum
from all kinds of surfaces.

Freemasons and the Knights Templar aren't the only ones with secret societies: WD-40, the world's most famous lubricant, has one, too. The company's current CEO, Steve Brass, was at the helm for nearly 30 years before he was allowed to join the ultra-secret club, which gave him access to the "undisclosed Bank of America location" where the WD-40's handwritten formula is kept, reports Jennifer Williams of The Wall Street Journal. The formula has "only left a bank vault three times in the past 30 years." WD-40 is 70 years old and has been used "for everything from loosening bolts to coaxing a boa constrictor out of a car engine compartment and removing gum from turtle shells."

Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. It could be the sound of a Mazda, or the sound of EV charging stations popping up across the U.S., despite recent efforts to depress EV sales. "The U.S. added a record number of public electric-vehicle fast chargers last year, keeping up with demand from growing number of EV owners," reports Jeff St. John of Canary Media. "The Trump administration pushed Republicans in Congress to cancel Biden-era EV tax credits and revoke states’ rights to set clean-car mandates" but that hasn't put the brakes on charging station builds and consumer use. Data analytics firm Paren found that "new chargers are working more reliably and being used more heavily than ever — a sign the country is matching charging supply to demand." 

Approximately 100 teen volunteers log more than 10,000 contacts a year from youth around the world. (Teen Line photo via Reasons to be Cheerful)

When teens need someone to talk to about life problems, sometimes the best listener is another teen. Since 1980, the Center for the Study of Young People in Groups in California has supported a free teen hotline that connects trained teens with peers for nonjudgmental listening. Michaela Haas for Reasons to be Cheerful reports, "Approximately 40% of U.S. high-school students report persistent sadness or hopelessness, and suicide remains the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24. . . .For the teens who undergo rigorous training to become hotline volunteers, the experience can be "transformative." Read about the full project and its impact here. 

Pew Research graph, from survey of U.S. adults 
conducted Nov. 17-30, 202

The good, the bad and the ugly: That's what the majority of Americans say we need to be sharing about U.S. history, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Andy Cerda of the Pew Research Center reports, "Majorities in both parties say it’s important to talk about both America’s successes and its failures. . . .66% of U.S. adults say it is extremely or very important to publicly discuss the country’s historical successes and strengths and 66% say the same about discussing the country’s historical failures and flaws."

Partial SNAP benefits will be paid to participants in November, but their delivery could be significantly delayed

USDA officials claim other funds cannot be used to pay November 
SNAP benefits in full. (USDA photo)

As the federal government shutdown drags into its sixth week, the Trump administration announced it would make partial payments this month to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants; however, it wouldn't predict when the reduced benefits would reach U.S. households, reports Zach Schonfeld of The Hill. 

On Friday, two federal judges "ruled the Trump administration must empty a multi-billion dollar emergency fund before cutting off SNAP," Schonfeld reports. "The judges indicated the USDA could use dollars from another funding source to fill the remaining gap for November."

The administration indicated it will not access other Department of Agriculture funds beyond the USDA's contingency fund, meaning that the November SNAP benefit will be reduced. "The administration says the fund has $4.65 billion available for households," Schonfeld explains. "It is not enough to cover the full November benefits, which are expected to cost upwards of $9 billion."

The Trump administration flatly rejected the judges' suggestion to redirect USDA money to fully fund November SNAP payments. Patrick Penn, who oversees the SNAP program at the USDA, wrote in a sworn declaration, "Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP. Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding." 

Although Penn said the USDA will begin providing states with details, he warned November payments could take "weeks or months" to reach beneficiaries.

The USDA 'lapse in funding' plan for SNAP is no longer on its website. Agency claims funds can't be used for SNAP.

Rural communities are often more dependent on SNAP to meet basic food needs.
(The Daily Yonder graph, from 2015 U.S. census data)

The Department of Agriculture had a contingency plan to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during the federal shutdown, but the 55-page 'lapse in funding' document recently disappeared from the USDA's website, reports Raymond Fernández of NOTUS. Rural counties are particularly vulnerable for any SNAP pause because their populations are more dependent on the program.

Despite the 'lapse in funding' plan, the USDA now claims its emergency fund can't be legally used to pay for SNAP during the shutdown. States working to cover a federal SNAP benefits pause with their own funds were warned by the USDA that the federal government will not reimburse them for any SNAP-pause spending.

In response to the USDA's refusal to access the contingency funds, a bipartisan group of two dozen states filed a lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, hoping the judge will compel the USDA to use the contingency funds to provide November SNAP benefits, report Tony Romm and Maya Shwayder of The New York Times. 

Proceedings in the states' lawsuit began Thursday, with the Trump administration "staunchly defending its decision to stop paying food stamps during the government shutdown, telling a federal court that it could not tap a tranche of available funds to provide aid to millions of poor Americans in November," Romm and Shwayder explain. "The arguments at times appeared to frustrate and confound a federal judge, who promised to rule soon."

USDA will release $3 billion and reopen Farm Service Agency core services

Despite some bumper crops, American farmers have
had a tumultuous season. (Photo by Jed Owen, Unspash)

U.S. farmers are harvesting big crops, but many are reaping little or no profit. To address some of their economic strife, the Department of Agriculture is "planning to release more than $3 billion in aid to U.S. farmers that had been frozen as a result of the government shutdown," report Natalie Andrews and Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal.

Bumper crops should be a boon for American farmers, but instead they are "fueling a glut that is driving down prices. Rising costs for fertilizer and farm equipment are also squeezing their balance sheets," Andrews and Thomas explain.

In addition to cash assistance, the USDA will "resume Farm Service Agency core operations, which have been closed for three weeks during the government shutdown," Andrews and Thomas write. "This will allow farmers to access aid, including some safety-net programs." 

President Donald Trump considered using tariff revenue to fund a bailout package for farmers earlier this year; however, the $3 billion comes from the Commodity Credit Corp., the same fund Trump tapped to help farmers weather his first-term tariffs. 

Before the government closed, the Trump administration was considering another $10 billion for farmers "struggling because of Trump’s trade war, but that new relief is on hold while the government is shut down," the Journal reports.

President Trump will be in Asia next week, where he "plans to push Chinese leader Xi Jinping to buy U.S. soybeans to help struggling American farmers," Andrews adds. "The two leaders are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of a summit in South Korea."

Government shutdown causes ‘financial heartburn’ for farmers

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.

Tired of waiting for the Trump administration to enforce silica limits, coal miners protest

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."

Rural hospitals in Arkansas find different ways to stay open and still serve their communities

Rural hospitals, represented by green dots, stretch across mid- to southern Arkansas counties. 

Rural hospitals in Arkansas continue to explore the best ways to serve their communities despite severe financial struggles. Some medical centers have found success by ending inpatient care in exchange for more Medicare dollars, while others keep their doors open by opting for other designations to continue providing vital care, such as inpatient stays, reports Tess Vrbin of The Arkansas Advocate. According to a 2023 University of Arkansas review, roughly 41% of Arkansas residents live in rural areas.

Two years ago, DeWitt Hospital and Nursing Home was in financial straits and CEO Brian Miller chose to convert it into a "rural emergency hospital, which draws more federal funds to rural hospitals if they reduce or eliminate inpatient services and focus on emergency and outpatient treatment," Vrbin writes.

Beyond higher Medicare payments, the switch helped DeWitt lower costs while adding income from outpatient services, such as cardiology and wound care. The hospital is one of five Arkansas hospitals to sign up for the emergency rural designation.

But converting to an emergency triage-type care model doesn't work for every rural community. The Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Hope will not apply for rural emergency status because inpatient stays are needed for residents in surrounding counties. Its chief administrative officer, Shelby Brown, told Vrbin, "We want to be able to, if we need to admit someone, to put them in our hospital so they can stay home locally."

Instead of opting to convert to a rural emergency hospital, Southwest Arkansas Regional applied for and received approval to become "a critical access hospital, a federal designation for facilities located no fewer than 35 miles from other hospitals and maintaining no more than 25 beds," Vrbin explains. "Medicare subsidizes critical access hospitals for inpatient treatment of Medicare recipients."

For many rural hospitals in Arkansas, the choice between ending certain types of patient care or possible closure is difficult. Brown told the Advocate, "The big scheme of rural health in the state of Arkansas is in a crisis mode. . . . I would always think it’s better to have a rural emergency hospital versus no hospital.”

Trump administration cancels household food security report

Photo by Austin Kehmeier, Unsplash

The annual report on household food security produced by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be discontinued, Dan Frosch, Patrick Thomas and Andrea Petersen of The Wall Street Journal reported.

The 2024 report is set to be released on Oct. 22 and will be the last of a series of reports that started in 1990 as a result of a 10-year comprehensive plan that was developed in accordance with the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act (NNMRR).

A press release from the USDA stated that the reports were “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous,” and “subjective, liberal fodder.”

Despite concerns from researchers, policy analysts, academics and others across the nation, the USDA states that it has other “timely and accurate data sets available.”

You can read more about how the USDA defines food insecurity and the survey questions they use here.

Fund with $50 billion for rural hospitals got off to a rough start; experts predict the money won't be enough

Delays, last-minute changes and a poor rollout have already plagued the newly created $50 billion rural hospital fund GOP lawmakers put together to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But analysts predict the "money to be spent over five years is less than the estimated $137 billion in cuts to rural health systems over 10 years," reports Aneeta Mathur-Ashton of U.S. News & World Report.

The Rural Health Transformation Program was designed to help rural hospitals weather Medicaid cuts included in the GOP's package and support longer-term cybersecurity and infrastructure improvements hospitals need to stay afloat; however, fund critics say the program is a short-term solution for a long-term problem.

States that receive RHTP grants must use the funds for at least three purposes outlined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), including "promoting care interventions, paying for health care services and expanding the workforce," Mathur-Ashton explains.

As rural hospitals receive funds, they will need to apply them carefully. Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Association, "praised the fund as a 'fabulous program that hopefully, if done correctly, can transform rural health going ahead, to a sustainable model,'" Mathur-Ashton writes.

Some Democrats consider the $50 billion to be a slush fund with unclear guidelines that can't undo the harm planned cuts will cause. "The bill gives [CMS] the authority to determine which applications to approve and deny, but does not spell out the criteria it should be using to do so," Mathur-Ashton reports. 

Rural health advocates say they want states to apply for RHTP, but many are pushing to have the $150 billion in Medicaid cuts rescinded. Morgan told U.S. News, "Congress either later this year or next year, is going to have to repeal those cuts for rural hospitals, or you're just going to see hundreds of rural hospitals close. It's non-workable.”

IRS union objects to closing in-person taxpayer assistance offices in six states

Closed TAC offices could create filing obstacles for
some taxpayers. (Adobe Stock photo)

As the IRS moves to close nine taxpayer assistance center (TAC) offices in six states, rural and underserved areas may find it harder to file and pay their taxes. The National Treasury Employees Union asked the IRS to reconsider the closures, reports Sean Michael Newhouse of Government Executive. The IRS planned the closures to cut overhead costs.

While the agency promised its closures won't result in job losses, closing in-person tax offices will make it harder for some U.S. residents to handle their taxes. Doreen Greenwald, NTEU's president, issued a statement saying, "These communities will have to drive longer distances, possibly 100 miles or more to meet with the IRS and get their questions answered.”

TAC offices slated for closure on Nov. 30 are: Altoona and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Elmira and West Nyack, New York; Owensboro and Paducah, Kentucky; Walnut Creek, California; and Wheeling, West Virginia.

The IRS also promised TAC closures won't reduce taxpayer services, which Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents West Nyack, N.Y., questioned in a letter to Scott Bessent, the acting IRS commissioner: "Closing this office without providing a suitable replacement will impose an undue burden on my constituents. . . .Forcing them to travel farther distances — often without reliable access to transportation — adds unnecessary barriers to fulfilling their obligations as taxpayers.”

The planned closures are a reversal of IRS outreach efforts. Newhouse writes, "The IRS had used funding from President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to open or reopen 54 centers, bringing the total number to more than 360."

Particularly for rural populations, which often have few tax service options nearby or can lack reliable broadband for online communication, TAC offices serve as a way for rural folks to file correctly and on time. Greenwald said, “Reducing the number of customer service centers reverses the progress that the IRS has made when it comes to being accessible and helpful to the American people."

Quick hits: Radioactive shrimp; soybean farmers seek deal; tractor pulls; veggie-flation; 515-mile lightning strike

Radioactive shrimp were recalled as a precautionary
measure. (ABC video graphic)

Earlier this week, the FDA issued an urgent recall for Indonesian shrimp sold at Walmart that may contain radioactive materials. "Certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart are being recalled due to possible contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope," reports Erin Keller of the Independent. FDA shrimp recall details are here.

With their fall harvests almost ready, American soybean farmers sent the Trump administration a letter asking for a trade deal with China. "China, the world's largest soybean buyer, is turning to Brazilian cargoes amid trade tensions with the U.S. and ongoing negotiations," reports Leah Douglas of Reuters. "The country has not pre-purchased soybeans from the upcoming U.S. harvest, an unusual delay that has worried traders and farmers. . . . China bought 54% of U.S. soybean exports in the 2023-2024 marketing year, worth $13.2 billion."

Langford's tractor pull has increased in popularity since
beginning in 1946. (Photo by Zach Jaworski, NPR)

Annual tractor and truck pulls have grown into major events for some rural communities. Little Langford, New York, hosts its tractor pull for two days every August. "Spectators gather on wooden bleachers flanking a long dirt runway, forming an arena that seats 4,000 people — more than the surrounding area's total population," reports Zach Jaworski of NPR. Richard Love, one of the officials at this year's Langford pull, told Jaworski, "It's non-stop action and it's just kind of a big party here." Jaworski adds, "This event in Langford has been held annually since 1946."

After U.S. Department of Labor agents zeroed in on the Marino family farm in New Jersey and uncovered a paperwork violation, they shackled the family's business with administrative red tape, fines and a ruling from a DOL court. Finally, after years of litigation, "a panel of independent federal judges unanimously ruled DOL’s actions in violation of the Constitution. . . and the Marinos were vindicated," reports Chris Bennett of Farm Journal. But the DOL's damage remains -- the Marino family farm that operated for 125 years is gone. Joe Marino told Bennett, "I never thought honesty and facts wouldn’t matter in America, but that’s what happened."

Chart by Axios, from Bureau of Labor data

As U.S. consumers watch the prices for essentials continue to fluctuate, produce costs could become the next budget worry. "Wholesale prices for fresh veggies soared by a record amount last month, foreshadowing a possible spike at the grocery store soon," reports Ben Berkowitz of Axios. "The Producer Price Index for July rose at the fastest clip in three years, far more than economists expected. . . . Per Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it's also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in a summer month (June-August), in figures that go back to 1947." 

A visualization of the megaflash that extended 515 miles, roughly the distance from Dallas to Kansas City, Mo. (Photo by Michael Peterson, GTRI via The Wall Street Journal)

The raw energy released in an average lightning bolt could power a small town for an entire day. With that in mind, consider the energy released during a recently detected lightning flash that zipped along the Great Plains in 2017. It was a "record-setting strike that lasted more than seven seconds and stretched 515 miles, from eastern Texas almost to Kansas City, Mo.," reports Eric Niiler of The Wall Street Journal. "The massive size of the megaflash, which touched ground in five states in 2017, was revealed by a new analysis of satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. . . . The average lightning strike is between 2 and 10 miles long."

Some residents in rural Mason, Tenn., don't want a migrant detention center in their town, but it's coming anyway

At times, the town meeting devolved into the mayor, left,
shouting at citizens. (YouTube, WREG, Memphis, Tenn.)

Despite raucous pushback from residents and activists during a recent town meeting in Mason, Tenn., the evening ended with the mayor and council members approving agreements to transition the town's closed prison into a migrant detention facility managed by a private company.

"The first vote of the meeting resulted in approval for a contract with CoreCivic to resume operating the facility, which was closed in 2021," Adrian Sainz of The Associated Press reports.  "The second vote was to approve an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

Eddie Noeman, Mason's mayor, who emigrated from Egypt, saw reopening the facility as a way to boost the town's lagging economy. "Noeman said he wanted to bring jobs and economic development to the town," Sainz explains. "With a population of about 1,300, Mason is located about 40 miles northeast of Memphis. When it was open, the prison was the town’s largest employer."

Before the start of the contentious meeting, Mason board member Virginia Rivers said she was not in favor of the town being connected to an ICE facility. She told Sainz, "I don’t like what ICE stands for, how they treat the people.” 

Once the contracts were approved, CoreCivic released a statement touting all the benefits the center will contribute to the town, such as good-paying jobs and tax generation.

Overall, CoreCivic has a darker reputation in Tennessee. Sainz reports, "The company has spent more than $4.4 million to settle about 80 lawsuits and out-of-court complaints alleging mistreatment — including at least 22 inmate deaths — at four Tennessee prisons and two jails from 2016 through September 2024."

USDA announces plan to move staff out of Washington, D.C.; many in Congress want more details, answers

Brooke L. Rollins

In a bid to lower costs and cut the federal workforce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will "relocate much of its Washington, D.C., workforce to five regional hubs and vacate several buildings in the area, including its flagship research center," reports Leah Douglas of Reuters. "More than 15,000 USDA employees, about 15% of its total workforce, have this year taken one of the agency's two financial incentive offers to leave."

The restructuring plan would keep roughly 2,000 USDA employees employed in Washington, D.C, but the "rest, about 2,600 people, will be relocated to hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah," Douglas writes. "The phased plan to relocate workers was made to bring USDA staff closer to its 'core constituents,' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a video to staff."

Despite the goal of cutting expenses, critics say relocating staff is costly, often inefficient and can mean less oversight guidance. Laura Dodson, an economist with the USDA Economic Research Service, told Douglas, "While this is bad for employees, it will be worse for the American public."

Meanwhile, lawmakers are weighing in on the restructuring plans, with many wanting to hear more about the plan and others opposing it, report Steve Davies and Rebekah Alvey of Successful Farming. 

John Boozman at Agriculture Committee Hearings
(Photo via Successful Farming)

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., and the committee’s top Democrat, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, are "calling for a hearing on the USDA’s reorganization plan, which Klobuchar said was 'completely unacceptable' and would 'decimate research work at the USDA,'" Davies and Alvey write. "Klobuchar said she got only a brief advance notice of the announcement for something that’s going to 'destroy the whole USDA.'"

Many lawmakers were caught off guard by the announcement and want to see the plan in detail. Representatives from states where new "hubs" would be located tended to see the announcement more positively. Some experienced agribusiness professionals cast doubts on how much cost savings or service assistance moving thousands of employees could accomplish.

Gbenga Ajilore, who served as a senior adviser in the office of the undersecretary for rural development, said "the messaging in the plan about making USDA a customer-focused agency conflicts with the fact that more than 15,000 people from across the country have taken buyouts," Successful Farming reports. 

Ajilore told reporters, "They’re moving people out of D.C. and moving them into pretty much big cities ... at the same time that they’re removing staff from these field offices that may end up being closed. I just don’t see how that’s going to work.” 

Immigrant farm workers from Mexico once had a clear path to work in the U.S. from the 1940s to the 1960s

Braceros congregating at Rio Vista 
(Library of Congress photo via Offrange)

A look back at American history reveals a significantly different perspective on Mexican immigrants coming to the United States to fill labor shortages. Beginning in the 1940s and stretching into the mid-1960s, the U.S. recruited thousands of Mexican immigrants to work on U.S. farms.

In Texas, the National Historic Landmark "Socorro’s Rio Vista Farm" operated as the "Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center," which was a designated point of entry for thousands of Mexican workers who entered the U.S. as "part of a temporary labor program," reports Marianne Dhenin for Offrange. "The arriving Mexican workers were known as braceros from the Spanish word for arm, brazo, roughly translating to 'one who swings his arms.'"

Mexican farm worker recruits were able to enter the U.S. by signing up for the Bracero Program. "The program was designed to recruit skilled agricultural laborers from Mexico to mitigate labor shortages in the United States resulting from American farm workers enlisting during World War II and, later, the Korean War," Dhenin explains. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated thousands of American Japanese farm workers, which increased the need for Mexican labor.

Workers who wanted to join the Bracero Program "applied at intake stations across Mexico," Dhenin writes. These men "made significant sacrifices in pursuit of economic opportunities in the U.S. Many hoped that higher wages across the border would allow them to provide for those they left behind."

Becoming a Bracero wasn't as easy as just signing up. Applicants were required to undergo extensive medical and psychological testing in Mexico before "being invited to make the trip northward through Mexico and across the border," Dhenin reports. Braceros were often transported into the U.S. in cargo trains "without seats, windows, or water stops along the way."

During the 1950s and early 1960s, the "barracks on Socorro’s Rio Vista Farm served as dormitories, offices, and a mess hall to house and process the more than 80,000 braceros who passed through each year," Dhenin explains. "It was one of five long-term bracero reception centers in California, Arizona, and Texas. . . . Over the lifespan of the Bracero Program, more than 4.6 million contracts were issued." A total of 30 states participated in the Bracero program.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence voices the conflicts of the past and the country's ideals

The drafters of the Declaration of Independence present their document to the Continental Congress.
(Painting by John Trumbull, Wikimedia Commons)

Rereading the U.S. Declaration of Independence can be a worthwhile endeavor. Remembering our country's ideals can help us consider our country's past and envision its way forward. 

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.