Quick hits: Mississippi bans lab-grown dairy; Lawyers for Reporters; pay phones help boomers and zoomers connect

State-level bans like Mississippi's can restrict access to the 
 lab-grown dairy industry. (Photo by A. Chaudhary, Unsplash)

Mississippi is the first state to ban lab-grown dairy after passing a bill effective July 1, reports Karen Bohnert for Dairy Herd Management. Lab-grown dairy is "produced through precision fermentation or cell-culturing techniques" and often referred to as "fake milk," Bohnert explains. The bill, HB 1153, requires strict labeling requirements and updated authority to state inspectors to prevent the manufacture, sale and distribution of cell-cultured dairy throughout the state, Bohnert reports.

Lawyers for Reporters, created by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, is a free resource for American local and public-interest journalism organizations needing legal services, reports Tandy Lau for E&P Magazine. There's a five-person in-house legal team based in New York offering assistance, and they partner with outside counsel for extra support in farther areas. Managing Attorney Kay Murray told E&P they "really guide [journalists] to ensure that they've got the backup to get it right, that they are confident about getting it right [and] that their understanding with their sources is something that everybody is on the same page about." They hope to soon provide more support for investigative reporting and coverage of immigration issues as well. "If I was trying to quantify the value of [Lawyers for Reporter's assistance], it would add up to easily tens of thousands of dollars if not well into the six figures," Warwick Sabin, CEO and president of Deep South Today, told E&P.

A new study found a long-term shift in cancer death trends, with rural areas facing higher cancer death rates than urban areas in recent years, reports Dennis Thompson for U.S. News & World Report. Previously, between 1969 and 1971, “large cities had the highest overall cancer death rates, followed by small- to medium-sized cities.” However, rural areas had the highest rates in 2021 to 2023, and large cities had the lowest rates. Specifically, lung cancer deaths among rural men were 26% lower than city dwellers in 1969 to 1971, but 55% higher in 2021 to 2023. Researchers said the shift and continuously widening gap is “likely driven by limited access to health care, lower cancer screening rates, higher poverty, more smoking and other lifestyle and environmental factors” in rural communities.

In a new social experiment by Matter Neuroscience, two old payphones set up at a nursing home in Nevada and near Boston University allow "zoomers" and "boomers" to call each other from 3,000 miles apart, reports Scottie Andrew for CNN. Designed to help people feel less lonely, this pilot project will last at least a month, according to Matter Neuroscience. "Friendship could come in all ages. Wisdom can come in all forms, and we just want people to get out of their comfort zone and have a conversation," Matter Neuroscience social strategist Calla Kessler said.

GM announced it will be adding a day of factory
production to it heavy-duty truck line. 

General Motors is increasing its heavy-duty truck production, as consumer demand remains strong despite rising gas and diesel prices, reports Christopher Otts for The Wall Street Journal. GM's Flint Assembly plant in Michigan will operate six days a week now, rather than five, producing more heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, Otts reports. Workers will be "mandated into overtime hours to cover the additional day of production," explains Otts. As gas prices have risen by about one-third since the beginning of the Iran war, GM's stock has declined about 10% so far this year, and forecasters predict new-vehicle sales to fall 6.5% in the first quarter.

America doesn't have enough truck drivers; the is job lonely, stressful and dangerous, so few of them stick with it

Truck drivers roll through swaths of lonely countryside.
(Photo by George Etheredge, The New York Times)

In his song "All I Do Is Drive," Johnny Cash sums up a lot of why there's a shortage of truck drivers: "All I do is drive, drive, drive/Try to stay alive/And keep my mind on my load/Keep my eye upon the road."

"In a world contending with the unrelenting impact of the Great Supply Chain Disruption, a shortage of truck drivers is frequently cited as an explanation for shortages of many other things — from construction supplies to electronics to clothing," reports Peter S. Goodman of The New York Times. "Last year, trucking companies in the United States suffered a record deficit of 80,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Association, a trade association. Given that trucks move 72 percent of American freight, a lack of drivers spells substantial disruption."

To investigate truck driver life, Goodman joined seasoned truck driver Stephan Graves for three days riding shotgun, from Kansas City, Mo., to Fort Worth, Texas and back. Graves told Goodman, “The lifestyle probably is the first thing that smacks people in the face. You know what it does to you. You’re thinking about it all the time. We’re tired. Our bodies are starting to go. Our bladders have been put to the test. And no exercise. We end up with all types of heart and other health ailments. You can’t truly fathom what it’s done to you.” Goodman writes, "He is prone to rhapsodizing about the open road. But he does not struggle to explain why his industry is perpetually bemoaning a shortage of drivers. . . . It is a job full of stress, physical deprivation and loneliness."

Are there not enough workers, or is it something else? "Some experts counter that the very notion of too few drivers is bogus," Goodman reports. "The average trucking company has a turnover rate of roughly 95 percent. . . . As the trucking association itself noted, more than 10 million Americans held commercial driver’s licenses in 2019. That was nearly triple the 3.7 million trucks that required a driver holding that certification."

Steve Viscelli, a University of Pennsylvania labor expert who once worked as a truck driver, told Goodman, “There is no shortage of truck drivers. These are just really bad jobs. . . . Until the 1980s, truck driving was a lucrative pursuit in which one union — the Teamsters — wielded enough power to ensure favorable working conditions, Mr. Viscelli recounts in his book The Big Rig. But the Carter administration deregulated the industry in the name of fostering competition, clearing the way for an influx of new trucking companies that diminished pay and increased demands on truckers."

Goodman writes, "Graves is satisfied with his employer. . . . He earns what he describes as 'a comfortable living.' . . . He and his fellow drivers are now enjoying the upper hand. Trucking fleets are handing out across-the-board raises to retain drivers while offering $10,000 cash bonuses in a frantic effort to court new hires. . . . Still, a three-day run in Graves’s vehicle — from Kansas City, Mo., to Fort Worth and back — reveals the inherent pressures of a relentlessly stressful job. . . . Here is a life spent navigating the hazards of piloting a truck weighing 26,000 pounds and pulling a 53-foot trailer, while balancing the need to ingest caffeine against the imperative to limit bathroom breaks. . . . The hours pass, the towns recede, while the gnawing loneliness of the road is constant." 

As an over-the-road driver, "Graves typically does not make it home by nightfall. He drives roughly 9,000 miles a month, spending two and three weeks on the road at a time, before returning home to his condo in Kingsport, Tenn. . . This is Day 10 of a 19-day trip that has taken him from Texarkana, Ark., to Texarkana, Texas, with three separate runs through Chicago, a stop in Indianapolis and a drop in Spartanburg, S.C., before bringing him to Kansas City. . . . Mostly, he rolls through vast stretches of emptiness, the flat, largely treeless plains punctuated by distant herds of cattle. . . .One of the primary reasons young people tend not to stick as truck drivers, Graves explains, is the challenge of maintaining ties to the rest of the world."

Quick hits: Apply by March 31 for business journalism fellowship; Americans cut back on pricey meat analogues

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

An anonymous donor has given Washington State University its largest gift ever for an initiative aimed at bringing more pharmacists to rural Washington. Read more here.

A journalism professor has a list of 21 types of political spin journalists should know about, and how to spot them. Notable entries include the "dead cat bounce." Read more here.

One columnist shares how her sons' experiences in growing up on the farm will serve them well as adults. Read more here.

Got an idea for an investigative or enterprise journalism project involving business, finance or economics. Apply by March 31 for a fellowship of up to $15,000 from The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism at the City University of New York. Past fellows have produced rural-centric stories, including a recent one from the Center for Public Integrity on Black farmer debt. Read more here.

The National Press Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists are seeking journalists to fill out a short survey to help the nonprofits design journalism training that serves newsrooms best. Take the quiz here.

The Agriculture Department has named new Farm Service Agency and Rural Development state directors for North Dakota and South Dakota. Read more here.

As inflation rises, consumers are cutting back on purchases of expensive plant-based meat alternatives, and 54% said in a recent survey that such products are too expensive. Read more here.

Amid a severe truck driver shortage, a new study says 90% of long-haul trucking could be done by self-driving trucks. There are some logistical hang-ups and the trucks would have to get better at bad-weather driving, though. Read more here.

Vilsack to speak at webinar Monday on the supply-chain crisis in U.S. agriculture exports and how to fix it

Agri-Pulse will host a free webinar at 1 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 31 to discuss how supply-chain problems are hurting American agriculture exports and what can be done about it.

The webinar includes two discussion panels: one featuring policy experts and one featuring industry experts. Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, which Vilsack headed between stints as USDA secretary, will moderate a panel featuring the following policy experts:

• Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
• White House Ports Czar John Porcari
• Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif.
• Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.

Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president of policy development and strategy at the National Milk Producer Federation will moderate an industry panel featuring the following guests:

• Mike Durkin, president and CEO of Leprino Foods
• Andrew Hwang, manager of business development and international marketing at the Port of Oakland in California
• Jon Eisen, director of the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference at the American Trucking Association

The event is sponsored by the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Click here for more information or to register.

Trucking companies trying to attract young, new drivers, but they must be 21; infrastructure package funding could help

Truck drivers have been in short supply for years, "but the situation has exacerbated supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, resulting in congested ports and empty shelves at stores," Amanda Perez Pintado writes for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. "The American Trucking Associations estimated that the U.S. is short 80,000 drivers, a record high, and the number could surpass 160,000 by 2030." That's partly because it's a demanding job, and partly because of an aging workforce. The average truck driver in 2019 was 46, and many retired at the beginning of the pandemic.

Trucking companies bumping up wages to attract and retain more drivers. The median pay for semi drivers in 2020 was $47,130, Pintado reports. But higher pay "increases the cost to the employer, and they have no choice but to pass along those costs to both consumers and small businesses," said Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Maisch. 

Companies are also trying to attract younger, more diverse workers who might not have considered truck driving as a career, Pintado reports. But, as the International Foodservice Distributors Association noted in a statement, "A key barrier to developing a pipeline of young professional drivers is that high-school graduates cannot immediately pursue a trucking career due to the federal regulations that prohibit them from operating across state lines or in interstate commerce until they turn 21."

The $1 trillion infrastructure package President Biden signed in November could help bring in younger drivers. "The package establishes a three-year pilot apprenticeship program allowing commercial truck drivers between the ages of 18 and 20 to drive across state lines. Though people under 21 can receive a commercial driver’s license in most states, federal regulations prohibit them from driving commercially across state lines," Pintado reports. "The White House in December announced a series of actions intended to recruit new drivers to bolster the trucking industry. The Truck Action Plan includes expediting the commercial driver’s license, a 90-day challenge to expand registered apprenticeships, and outreach and recruitment focused on veterans."

Snowplow driver shortage drives up price of snow removal

"A nationwide shortage of plow drivers could make for a lot of difficult travel this winter, as communities nationwide are desperately trying to fill positions before the snowfall," Chris Conte reports for KMGH and KCDO, stations owned by E.W. Scripps Co. that are branded as The Denver Channel.

The shortage is mostly a facet of the years-long commercial truck driver shortage that's hurting everything from supply chains to rural school bus routes, Conte reports. States and municipalities are trying to lure more drivers with high hourly wages and huge bonuses, but with limited success. There just aren't enough drivers, partly because there aren't enough instructors, partly because many commercially licensed drivers retired at the beginning of the pandemic, and partly because driving a snow plow can be lousy, iffy work. Paul Cohen, the town manager in Chelmsford, Mass., told Conte: "For drivers, you don’t know your earnings level because you don’t know the weather. You’re asking someone to commit to you and you don’t know if you’ll have a snowy winter or a dry winter."

Another factor making snow and ice removal more expensive this winter: "The price of road salt has skyrocketed by as much as 31 percent" from last year, Conte reports.

Industries with big worker shortages have big rural stakes

As the nation rumbles back to life after the pandemic, many industries—some with a large rural presence—are having trouble finding new workers. 

It's a tight market, but not a true labor shortage in most cases: there were a record 9.3 million job openings in April, but 9.3 million Americans were unemployed in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Andrew Van Dam reports for The Washington Post. The problem is more often that workers in industries that largely shut down during the pandemic found work elsewhere, have health and safety concerns about returning to work in certain industries, or lack child care. 

Many employers have been able to fill positions when they raise wages, but sometimes that isn't enough, Van Dam reports. The Post analyzed federal data for hundreds of sectors and identified those that haven't been able to find new workers despite raising wages to sometimes record levels. The story lists the top sectors most desperate for workers and discusses why each is having such a hard time.

Sawmills top the list, with employment only recently returning to pre-pandemic levels despite paychecks that have increased nearly 10 percent since last year. Henry Spelter of Forest Economic Advisers told Van Dam that sawmill workers aren’t highly paid, and some may have preferred to stay home, avoid the coronavirus and draw stimulus checks and extra unemployment benefits.

Other industries noted in the story include textiles, specialized long-haul truckers, movers, specialty contractors and veterinarians. Pandemic demand is a common thread in many of those: people have been moving out of cities and trying to fix up their new houses, and interest in pet adoption soared during the past year. So did reports of stress and poor mental health, Van Dam reports.

Many meatpacking plants are also struggling to find enough workers, prompting companies like Tyson Foods to sweeten the deal with more attractive work schedules, more convenient medical care, and higher pay, Christopher Doering reports for Food Dive.

Summer may bring fuel shortages due to tanker-truck driver shortage, could raise farming costs and inhibit tourism

Gasoline may be in short supply at the pump this summer. There's plenty of crude oil and gasoline, but refineries can't find enough qualified tanker-truck drivers to get it to the gas stations.

"According to the National Tank Truck Carriers, the industry's trade group, somewhere between 20% to 25% of tank trucks in the fleet are parked heading into this summer due to a paucity of qualified drivers. At this point in 2019, only 10% of trucks were sitting idle for that reason," Chris Isidore reports for CNN. "Drivers left the business a year ago when gasoline demand ground to a near halt during the early pandemic-related shutdowns."

NTTC executive vice president Ryan Streblow told Isidore that driver shortages have been a long-standing issue, but the pandemic "metastasized it" and caused it to grow "exponentially."

Oklahoma tanker-truck executive Holly McCormick cited another factor: "We're also working with an aging work force. Many said 'I might as well take it as a cue to retire.'" She also said the shutdown of many driver schools early in the pandemic disrupted the pipeline of new drivers who would have taken many retirees' places. "And then there's a new federal clearinghouse that went online in January 2020 to identify truck drivers with prior drug or alcohol violations or failed drug tests, which knocked about 40,000 to 60,000 total drivers out of the national employment pool," Isidore reports.

Truck drivers have been in short supply for about 25 years, a problem that has grown more acute in the past five years or so. But tanker-truck driving is more specialized, requiring extra certification and training. "And while the jobs are more attractive than some long-haul trucking jobs that can keep drivers away from home for days or weeks at a time, it is strenuous, difficult work," Isidore reports, adding that a gas shortage and higher prices could raise farming costs and grocery prices, and, if vacationers can't afford to hit the road, that could hurt rural areas that depend on tourism.

Rural workforce, supply chains are tricky during pandemic

Though metropolitan areas are seeing more coronavirus cases so far, rural areas are still getting hit with supply-chain and workforce issues.

It's planting season, and many farmers relying on foreign labor have been facing a looming shortage since the U.S. closed its consulates in Mexico on March 18. Consulates process migrant farmworker visas. However, after appeals from farm groups and ag-state lawmakers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture "announced late Thursday that the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have agreed to waive in-person interview requirements for H-2A and H-2B visa applicants," Liz Crampton reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture. "Demand for H-2A visas, reserved for agricultural labor, jumped 11 percent last year; H-2B visas, for non-agricultural temporary workers, is capped by Congress at 66,000."

The nation's food supply is fine thus far, but Gary Schnitkey, an agricultural economics professor at the University of Illinois, noted in a recent webinar that changing supply-chain logistics will be an issue. Transportation and food industries will have to adjust to shifting food from restaurants to grocery stores, since so many more people are eating at home these days, Jonathan Hettinger reports for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

To hurry delivery of supplies, the Trump administration has suspended a rule that required commercial truck drivers to get a sleep break after 14 hours of work, Sky Chadde reports for the Midwest Center.

Wisconsin may join states that teach commercial truck drivers how to keep an eye out for human trafficking

A bill in the Wisconsin state Senate would give more long-haul truck drivers the tools to help fight human trafficking. A similar bill was introduced in 2017 but stalled in the Senate.

"At least eight other states have enacted similar policies, which one group says has led to a dramatic uptick in the number of trafficking reports from truckers—from sporadic calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline to more than 2,300 reports and counting," Katie Queram reports for Route Fifty. "Those calls opened 635 cases of sex trafficking involving 1,186 victims, according to the nonprofit organizationTruckers Against Trafficking."

In Wisconsin, "Senate Bill 25, introduced in February and recently approved by a committee, would require commercial motor vehicle driver education classes include information on how to recognize and prevent human trafficking," Queram reports. "Proponents said the measure makes sense because human trafficking regularly occurs along highways and at truck stops and rest areas, places populated primarily—and sometimes only—by truck drivers."

Many private truck-driving schools already warn drivers to be on the lookout for human trafficking, but students at state technical colleges may not get that training, according to Dan Johnson, vice president of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association. Johnson testified in favor of the bill in March, telling lawmakers, "Education is the key to [fixing] this problem."

Wisconsin's more than 312,000 licensed commercial drivers are in a unique position to keep an eye out for human trafficking, according to Sen. LaTonya Johnson, a Milwaukee Democrat who is the bill's main sponsor. "This is a huge network of eyes and ears within the interstate trade industry that can support law enforcement in the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of traffickers," she said in a recent public hearing.

Administration poised to relax truck driver safety rules; critics say deadly truck crashes up 40% since 2009

The Trump administration is expected to relax trucking safety rules that many drivers see as too restrictive, but safety advocates disagree and point to a sharp rise in deadly truck crashes in the past decade, Frank Morris reports for NPR.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is expected to issue a notice that “will open a two month comment period on hours of service changes. Then the administration can move forward with new rules,” Morris reports. The agency is considering exceptions to the rule that caps driving time at 11 hours a day and requires at least 30 minutes of rest during that time. If the changes go through, the government would ease some regulations, including allowing drivers to break up their required sleep time.

Driver Michael Whitaker told Morris that tweaks in the regulations would make it easier for drivers to avoid rush-hour traffic. "We don't want to interact with cars during rush hour traffic. We want to stay as far away from you all as possible," he said.

Another driver, Carmen Anderson, said, “It's kind of like when you're in kindergarten and they're sitting there saying, OK, it's nap time. You have to take a nap.” Recalling a time when she was stranded in an industrial area, Anderson said she once spent 17 hours parked in a spot with no restrooms and no security because she had no flexibility in the regulations for hours of service.

Safety advocates disagree with the proposed changes. Dawn King, volunteer president of the Truck Safety Coalition, told Morris that the trucking industry has not produced data to show relaxed standards would increase safety. King said her father was killed by a tired trucker in 2004.

"We really should not be considering weakening the regulations we should be considering enhancing them," said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "The safety of everyone traveling on our roads is at stake." Chase said deadly truck crashes are up 40 percent since 2009.