"A federal major disaster declaration approved Monday does not include financial assistance for Iowans recovering from last week's devastating derecho, despite President Donald Trump tweeting he approved the state's application in 'FULL.' Kim Norvell reports for the Des Moines Register. "Gov. Kim Reynolds' request for $82.7 million to cover the 8,273 homes that were damaged or destroyed was not approved. Neither were her requests for $3.77 billion for agriculture damage to farm land, grain bins and buildings and $100 million for private utilities repair."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is still assessing damage to determine if the state qualifies for more assistance. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said Tuesday it could be another week before individual assistance is approved. The disaster declaration issued Monday, which includes 16 Iowa counties, "includes federal funding for emergency work, such as debris removal, and repair or replacement of storm-damaged facilities for local governments and nonprofits," Reynolds reports.
The Aug. 10 storm carved a 700-mile swath across the Midwest. In Iowa alone, a quarter of a million people remain without power, and nearly half of the corn crop was damaged or destroyed. About 6.1 million acres of corn and soybeans were destroyed, Donelle Eller reports for the Register.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Local leaders talk about how smarter federal policy can help rural areas during pandemic
"The covid-19 pandemic is threatening to exacerbate the nation’s geographic divergence in community well-being and economic prosperity that has been widening since the Great Recession. Over one-quarter of U.S. counties had not yet recovered to pre-2008 levels before the pandemic hit, This is disproportionately true for rural America, whose diversity belies general perceptions and is attracting leaders such as Todd Wolford of Wytheville, Va, and Lindsey Dotson of Charlevoix, Mich., who direct rural economic development organizations and are eager to build rural institutions and places that thrive," Tracy Hadden Loh and Anthony Pipa write for the Brookings Institution. Pipa is a senior fellow in global economy and development at Brookings, and Loh is a fellow at the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking.
Loh and Pipa recently interviewed Wolford and Dotson via Zoom to discuss what the local leaders are doing to help their communities. Both said they're committed to supporting and growing small businesses, which make up the majority of jobs in their towns. Such jobs also make their communities unique and can attract outsiders, they said. "Yet their experiences demonstrate that federal policy for rural development is outdated and mismatched in helping rural leaders meet the demands and opportunities of the modern economy and the additional pressures wrought by covid-19," Loh and Pipa write.
Rural entrepreneurs face a host of barriers even without the pandemic: it's more difficult for them to access financing, and they tend to have inadequate broadband access, Dotson and Wolford said. Read more here.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Biden aims at rural voters during Democratic convention
"The Biden campaign wants to undercut President Donald Trump’s sweeping victory across rural America in 2016 by making its case that the White House has failed voters in small communities," Liz Crampton reports for Politico. "No one expects former Vice President Joe Biden to win the rural vote outright. But his strategists and supporters are working to peel away voters by hammering on Trump’s economic agenda and haphazard response to the pandemic."
"Winning over just a slice of the rural vote could make a difference in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania," Crampton reports. "Many sectors of the rural economy under Trump have been reeling as a result of his trade and ethanol policies since 2017, while the coronavirus has disproportionately affected rural areas, stressing an already fraying health care infrastructure with few ICU beds."
The Democratic party signaled its attention to rural voters during this week's Democratic National Convention. On Monday, speakers underlined the importance of the U.S. Postal Service, which rural residents rely on disproportionately. Later, the Biden camp hosted a virtual symposium to discuss issues that affect rural voters. And on Tuesday, members of the DNC's Rural Council held the floor during the daytime, Crampton reports.
Recent Midwestern derecho was like an 'inland hurricane' but hasn't seen comparable news coverage from outsiders
On Monday, Aug. 10, a storm known as a derecho wreaked havoc over a 700-mile stretch of the Midwest. But though the storm was as strong as a Level 2 hurricane and destroyed or damaged nearly half of Iowa's corn crop, the disaster isn't getting the same kind of outsider coverage that a hurricane would, Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Lyz Lenz writes for The Washington Post.
In Iowa alone, a quarter of a million people are without power, and nearly half of the state's corn crop was damaged or destroyed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency, about 8.2 million acres of corn and 5.6 million acres of soybeans in the state were in the path of the storm, Natalina Sents reports for Successful Farming. Preliminary estimates say the storm also damaged or destroyed more than 57 million bushels of permanently licensed grain storage that will cost more than $300 million to remove, replace or repair.
Postmaster general stops changes after uproar over slower delivery; will testify before Congress
"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, facing intense backlash over cost-cutting moves that Democrats, state attorneys general and civil rights groups warn could jeopardize mail-in voting, said on Tuesday that the Postal Service would suspend those operational changes until after the 2020 election," The New York Times reports. "The measures, which included eliminating overtime for mail carriers, reducing post office hours and removing postal boxes, have been faulted for slowing mail delivery and criticized as an attempt to disenfranchise voters seeking to vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic."
Meanwhile, the slowed mail delivery is causing problems for many small businesses, Ben Werschkul reports for Yahoo! Finance.
DeJoy said that retail hours at post offices would remain the same, that no processing facilities would close, and that overtime would continue to be approved where appropriate. "It was unclear, however, whether the agency would reverse measures already put in place across the country that union officials and workers say have inflicted deep damage to the Postal Service," the Times reports. "That includes the removal of hundreds of mail-sorting machines, according to a June 17 letter sent from the Postal Service to the American Postal Workers Union. Some of those machines have already been destroyed, union officials and workers said.
DeJoy announced the pullback as at least 20 Democratic attorneys general said they plan to file federal lawsuits alleging that DeJoy is illegally changing mail procedures in an effort to suppress votes, the Times reports.
House and Senate lawmakers, meanwhile, have summoned DeJoy to testify. Beyond that, Congress has limited options for ensuring that the Postal Service is ready for a fair and well-run presidential election conducted mostly by mail, Amber Phillips reports for The Washington Post. They can continue to encourage voters to speak up. They can also lean on the board of governors—most installed by Trump—who choose the postmaster general to remove DeJoy, pressure the Postal Service's inspector general to investigate DeJoy's changes and his possible conflicts of interest, and more.
Meanwhile, the slowed mail delivery is causing problems for many small businesses, Ben Werschkul reports for Yahoo! Finance.
New rural coronavirus cases down a little over past 2 weeks but deaths up more than 20%; see county-level data
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| Daily Yonder map, adapted by The Rural Blog; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version. |
The Yonder analyzed new covid-19 infections in nonmetropolitan counties during the week of Aug. 1-7 and compared them with new infections during the week of Aug. 8-14. During that time, new cases in rural America fell 2.9 percent, from 53,500 to about 52,000, Murphy and Marema report. But during that same time period, rural covid-19 deaths grew by 22%, from 1,023 to 1,248.
"The number of rural counties on the red-zone list climbed by four last week, to 738, after dropping from a high of 746 three weeks ago," Murphy and Marema report. "The pandemic also showed signs of deepening in these hard-hit counties. The number of new infections in rural red-zone counties increased by 4% in the last week, from 38,800 two weeks ago to 40,300 last week."
Aug. 26 webinar to discuss rural maternal and childbirth care disparities, policy recommendations for improving it
A free Aug. 26 webinar will discuss the challenges women face in obtaining maternal and obstetric care in rural America and discuss policy recommendations for improving it. The webinar will begin at 3 p.m. ET and will go for about an hour.
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services will present the webinar through the Rural Health Information Hub.
From the webinar website: "More than 700 women a year die of complications related to pregnancy in the U.S., and two-thirds of these deaths are preventable. Maternal mortality is disproportionally affecting black and American Indian/Alaska Native women in the U.S. Additionally, there are disparities between rural and urban populations. According to publicly available data from the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by Scientific American, rural areas had a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 29.4 per 100,000 live births versus 18.2 in urban areas in 2015."
Click here for more information on the webinar, including speakers, or to register.
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services will present the webinar through the Rural Health Information Hub.
From the webinar website: "More than 700 women a year die of complications related to pregnancy in the U.S., and two-thirds of these deaths are preventable. Maternal mortality is disproportionally affecting black and American Indian/Alaska Native women in the U.S. Additionally, there are disparities between rural and urban populations. According to publicly available data from the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by Scientific American, rural areas had a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 29.4 per 100,000 live births versus 18.2 in urban areas in 2015."
Click here for more information on the webinar, including speakers, or to register.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Rural publisher proposes temporary USDA-type 'prevented printing' subsidy for struggling community papers
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| Reed Anfinson |
The "prevented planting" subsidies were meant to help farmers because, among other reasons, they're an important part of local rural economies. But local newspapers serve their communities too, Anfinson writes, so they deserve a similar subsidy that he dubs the "prevented printing" program.
"What we have learned from communities that have lost their newspapers is that fewer people vote," Anfinson writes. "Citizens don’t understand why the school district cut course offerings. They know little about who is running for office. They don’t know why the county is bonding and raising taxes by $30 million. Without a newspaper, the cost of issuing those bonds goes up [at least according to one study]. Fewer people run for office. We lose the stories that create a common bond to get things done."
For farmers, the problem was mainly terrible weather. For newspapers, the storm comes from waning advertising dollars. Some of that is because of digital competition, and some of it is because businesses have reduced advertising during the pandemic. Over the past 15 years, more than 2,000 American newspapers shuttered, many of them in small towns. As of early 2020, 198 U.S. counties no longer had a newspaper, Anfinson notes, citing news desert research by the University of North Carolina's Penny Abernathy.
Some plans have been proposed to shore up newspapers, but so far, all have targeted large papers. Anfinson argues that a "prevented printing" program can be easily scaled for each newspaper, no matter what its circulation, Anfinson writes. He is a former president of the National Newspaper Association and the publisher and owner of several small Minnesota papers: the Swift County Monitor-News, the Grant County Herald, and the Stevens County Times. Read more here about his idea.
Rural hospitals' broad experience can help in covid-19 fight
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. For many rural hospitals trying to cope with the influx of covid-19 patients, years of having to be flexible and make do with limited budgets and supplies could give them a leg up in fighting the pandemic, Ginger Christ reports for Modern Healthcare.
Tim Putnam, president and CEO of Margaret Mary Health, said the 25-bed hospital in Batesville, Indiana, has been struggling with the extra load since mid-March. "The hospital that normally has 15 patients at a time had as many as 28 patients at one point and went from being 80% outpatient to 80% inpatient, Putnam said. They had to purchase seven more ventilators to double their capacity to intubate patients," Christ reports.
But Putnam said rural hospitals' flexibility can help with the pandemic. "In rural hospitals, staff often have a broad scope of responsibilities and deal with a lot of different illnesses, Putnam said. Caregivers aren't separated by departments in the same way that they are in urban settings. That experience helped prepare them to respond to covid-19," Christ reports. One University of Minnesota study found that rural nurse practitioners at primary care clinics have more autonomy in every measurable way than their urban peers.
Rural hospitals are applying that flexibility not only internally, but externally. Some community hospitals, including Putnam's, have banded together to share staff as needed when local outbreaks sap their staff, Christ reports.
Such partnerships may prove critical to rural hospitals' ability to weather the pandemic, though the CARES Act provided some relief. "About 80 percent of the income for rural hospitals comes from outpatient services, which have not yet recovered," Christ reports. "Through April 15, 14 rural hospitals in the U.S. permanently shut their doors, which is on pace to the be the largest number of closures yet."
Tim Putnam, president and CEO of Margaret Mary Health, said the 25-bed hospital in Batesville, Indiana, has been struggling with the extra load since mid-March. "The hospital that normally has 15 patients at a time had as many as 28 patients at one point and went from being 80% outpatient to 80% inpatient, Putnam said. They had to purchase seven more ventilators to double their capacity to intubate patients," Christ reports.
But Putnam said rural hospitals' flexibility can help with the pandemic. "In rural hospitals, staff often have a broad scope of responsibilities and deal with a lot of different illnesses, Putnam said. Caregivers aren't separated by departments in the same way that they are in urban settings. That experience helped prepare them to respond to covid-19," Christ reports. One University of Minnesota study found that rural nurse practitioners at primary care clinics have more autonomy in every measurable way than their urban peers.
Rural hospitals are applying that flexibility not only internally, but externally. Some community hospitals, including Putnam's, have banded together to share staff as needed when local outbreaks sap their staff, Christ reports.
Such partnerships may prove critical to rural hospitals' ability to weather the pandemic, though the CARES Act provided some relief. "About 80 percent of the income for rural hospitals comes from outpatient services, which have not yet recovered," Christ reports. "Through April 15, 14 rural hospitals in the U.S. permanently shut their doors, which is on pace to the be the largest number of closures yet."
Rural home sales spike in New England amid pandemic
Some data has suggested that rural home sales may be increasing as city dwellers seek to flee the pandemic, but a new story out of rural New Hampshire confirms the trend, at least in New England.
Home listings are down about 50 percent because many sellers say they don't feel comfortable moving during the pandemic, Lippman reports. So few homes on the market plus increased buyer interest has resulted in a strong seller's market. Homeowners report buyers offering unheard-of prices for their properties, some without even doing an inspection first. Anecdotally, many of the buyers are younger couples with children who have secure, good-paying jobs that aren't linked to the local economy and can work remotely.
Since many of the buyers have children, schools in the Upper Valley are seeing increased enrollment, which can be complicated when many schools are reopening with distance learning, Lippman reports.
Can the arts help save rural America from the recession?
"Far from major population centers or cutting-edge cultural trends, galleries, museums and craft breweries have collectively brought life — and cash — back to rural communities devastated in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession and by longer-term decline," Stephen Starr writes for Ozy. "Now, these communities are counting on art to keep their economies going amid the crisis spawned by the coronavirus pandemic."
The arts can help improve the local economy, according to a 2019 National Governors Association study. About half of rural counties have seen population declines since 2000, but experts are predicting that more people will move from cities to smaller towns because of the increasing cost of living in urban areas and the possibility of working from home. Active arts and culture scenes could help attract former city dwellers, Starr reports.
Many rural arts programs have received pandemic funds. The National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency, "has announced $75 million in relief funds to arts organizations. State governments, commissions and universities are also pumping millions of dollars into small-scale rural arts ventures," Starr reports. "Such initiatives are paying dividends. In 2015, arts and cultural initiatives contributed $67.5 billion to states where at least 30 percent of the population live in rural areas. According to the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey, residents in rural counties that are home to performing arts organizations earn up to $6,000 more than people who live in rural counties without such platforms."
The arts can help improve the local economy, according to a 2019 National Governors Association study. About half of rural counties have seen population declines since 2000, but experts are predicting that more people will move from cities to smaller towns because of the increasing cost of living in urban areas and the possibility of working from home. Active arts and culture scenes could help attract former city dwellers, Starr reports.
Many rural arts programs have received pandemic funds. The National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency, "has announced $75 million in relief funds to arts organizations. State governments, commissions and universities are also pumping millions of dollars into small-scale rural arts ventures," Starr reports. "Such initiatives are paying dividends. In 2015, arts and cultural initiatives contributed $67.5 billion to states where at least 30 percent of the population live in rural areas. According to the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey, residents in rural counties that are home to performing arts organizations earn up to $6,000 more than people who live in rural counties without such platforms."
Interior to reopen schools on Native American reservations
"The federal agency tasked with the oversight of some schools on Native American reservations announced that officials intend to reopen 53 schools they manage in 10 states to the “maximum extent possible” on September 16," Emma Coleman reports for Route Fifty. "The Bureau of Indian Education, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, last week sent out a memo to bureau-operated schools saying that virtual-only learning environments would only be allowed if an outbreak occurred at the school that required a schoolwide shutdown. Though families can opt for distance learning if they want, teachers will be required to teach from the classroom, according to the memo."
Many school districts are offering online-only or other distance learning programs to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, though rural schools are more likely to reopen for in-person learning. But some schools that have resumed in-person classes have been obliged to quickly revert to distance learning after first-week infection spikes.
"Native American reservations have been some of the hardest hit locations during the coronavirus pandemic, becoming early hotspots for the virus in May and June," Coleman reports. "The Navajo Nation at one point had more positive cases per capita than any state in the country, while the disease has torn through other tribes."
Many school districts are offering online-only or other distance learning programs to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, though rural schools are more likely to reopen for in-person learning. But some schools that have resumed in-person classes have been obliged to quickly revert to distance learning after first-week infection spikes.
"Native American reservations have been some of the hardest hit locations during the coronavirus pandemic, becoming early hotspots for the virus in May and June," Coleman reports. "The Navajo Nation at one point had more positive cases per capita than any state in the country, while the disease has torn through other tribes."
Native Americans could also face increased risk from the pandemic because of a higher incidence of underlying health conditions that make them more likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus, along with frequent lack of access to hospitals or health care, Coleman reports.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Postmaster general and chairman of Postal Service Board of Governors agree to testify before House panel Monday
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the chair of the board that hired him have agreed to testify before a House committee next week "about his controversial Postal Service changes that have raised hackles around the nation, according to two people familiar with the matter," reports Daniel Lippman of Politico.
Mike Duncan of Inez, Ky., chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, has "also agreed to testify, according to a person familiar with the matter," Lippman reports. "Duncan is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee," in 2007-09, after being treasurer and general counsel. DeJoy was finance chairman of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Mike Duncan of Inez, Ky., chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, has "also agreed to testify, according to a person familiar with the matter," Lippman reports. "Duncan is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee," in 2007-09, after being treasurer and general counsel. DeJoy was finance chairman of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
"The Oversight and Reform Committee hearing is likely to be tense, with Democrats loudly objecting to changes that have slowed mail delivery in numerous parts of the country amid President Donald Trump’s calls to restrict the use of mail-in ballots for the November election," Lippman writes. "A number of Democrats, including moderate House member Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), had even said that they wanted DeJoy, a major Republican Party fundraiser, arrested by the House sergeant at arms if he didn’t agree to testify."
The Democrat-controlled House may vote "as early as this Saturday on a proposal to block DeJoy’s plans to overhaul the Postal Service," Lippman reports. "The emergency vote would occur weeks earlier than Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders had originally planned to return to Washington during the August recess. Both House and Senate Democrats have also demanded reams of documents from DeJoy and senior USPS staffers as they probe why the Postal Service has cracked down on the use of overtime for postal workers, restricted certain deliveries and warned states that if ballots are put in the mail too late, the Postal Service can’t guarantee delivery of them by election day. Even Trump seems to have changed his tune on what he wants from the Postal Service, telling reporters on Monday: “I have encouraged everybody to speed up the mail, not slow the mail.”
The Democrat-controlled House may vote "as early as this Saturday on a proposal to block DeJoy’s plans to overhaul the Postal Service," Lippman reports. "The emergency vote would occur weeks earlier than Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders had originally planned to return to Washington during the August recess. Both House and Senate Democrats have also demanded reams of documents from DeJoy and senior USPS staffers as they probe why the Postal Service has cracked down on the use of overtime for postal workers, restricted certain deliveries and warned states that if ballots are put in the mail too late, the Postal Service can’t guarantee delivery of them by election day. Even Trump seems to have changed his tune on what he wants from the Postal Service, telling reporters on Monday: “I have encouraged everybody to speed up the mail, not slow the mail.”
Medicaid expansion OKd by voters in Missouri was opposed by most voters in rural areas, but it may help them most
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| Kaiser Family Foundation map, adapted by The Rural Blog |
Franken writes that he's unsurprised by the trend, since during his Senate career, he saw many rural Minnesotans who were "passionate" about Medicaid expansion. However, in Missouri, the largest state to expand Medicaid by referendum, the measure passed because of urban support; two-thirds of rural voters opposed it, Bill Bishop and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder.
Franken writes that Medicaid expansion will disproportionately help rural residents, as it has done in Minnesota. "After the Affordable Care Act became law and Medicaid expansion was adopted in our state, these hospitals suddenly found themselves with a lot less uncompensated care and, therefore, a lot more resources," Franken writes. Now that rural hospitals didn’t have to eat the costs of uninsured patients, they had money they could spend for more doctors, nurses, technicians, technology, rehabilitation therapists, dietitians — even better food! Suddenly, these rural hospitals were able to significantly expand their scope of practice."
Expanded access to health care may help fewer people get sick with covid-19, he continues: "Not only did rural Minnesotans have access to more specialists and sophisticated medical equipment (including ventilators), now they could receive regular free checkups from their physicians, reducing the incidence and severity of the co-morbidities that make people so vulnerable to the coronavirus."
Controversial nominee pulled, but he will keep running BLM
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| William "Perry" Pendley |
Senate Republicans have taken pains to help Gardner and Daines' re-election prospects, including passing a bill they co-sponsored that permanently protects public lands and addresses part of the national park system's maintenance backlog. Public-lands preservation has been a major campaign platform for both senators.
Pendley, BLM's deputy director for policy and programs, has been acting director since July 2019. He has been criticized for controversial views about public lands, the environment, and other issues. Before his tenure at BLM, he was the longtime president of the conservative Mountain States Legal Foundation. During that time, he wrote that there should be no public lands and said repeatedly that climate change lacks credible scientific evidence. Also while at the MSLF, "he had sued the Interior Department on behalf of an oil and gas prospector, sought to undermine protections of endangered species such as the grizzly bear, and pressed to radically reduce the size of federal lands to make way for development," Mufson reports.
However, just because Pendley's nomination has been withdrawn, he isn't out of the picture. "White House and Interior officials said that Pendley would continue to serve in his current, lower-level deputy director position at the Interior Department, a job that effectively lets him continue to act as head of the BLM. Pendley was the only person nominated to head the BLM under Trump," Mufson reports. "Several federal agencies are being run by the Trump administration using similar arrangements."
Wednesday webinar to discuss connection between immigrants and rural economies during the pandemic
The Aspen Institute will hold a free webinar at 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Aug. 19, to discuss the links between immigrants and rural economies, and how they affect each other in the coronavirus pandemic. The webinar will last an hour, and will be followed by peer-learning breakout sessions starting at 4 p.m. Click here for more information on the webinar or to register.
The webinar is the second in the Aspen Institute's Rural Opportunity and Development Session series. From the website: "Immigrant workers and their families are a dynamic force behind recent population upturns or stabilization across rural America. In fact, between 2010 and 2016, immigrants from around the world were responsible for 37 percent of net rural population growth.
The webinar is the second in the Aspen Institute's Rural Opportunity and Development Session series. From the website: "Immigrant workers and their families are a dynamic force behind recent population upturns or stabilization across rural America. In fact, between 2010 and 2016, immigrants from around the world were responsible for 37 percent of net rural population growth.
"Rural communities that rely on the economic drivers of tourism and recreation and essential services like health care and food production have been hit hard by the impact of covid-19. Due to multiple risk and systemic factors, the many immigrants employed in these rural industries have been disproportionately affected and face enormous challenges, as do the rural communities where they live and work."
Temporary battle against covid-19 gave Cherokees in N.C. impetus and tools to battle longstanding opioid epidemic
The "intricate and bold" steps taken to help tamp down the coronavirus pandemic among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians may have helped them learn how to fight an older enemy: the opioid epidemic, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle reports for 100 Days in Appalachia, in a story published by the Clay County Progress in North Carolina.
The infection rates in the EBCI reservation, known as the Qualla Boundary, have been "exemplary" compared to those in surrounding counties, Clapsaddle writes, partly because tribal authorities had enacted policies stricter than those required by the state or federal governments, and had pooled resources to better distribute them.
"In partnership with the nonprofit Dogwood Health Trust, a nonprofit health organization based in Asheville, we began providing access to free community-wide testing (even asymptomatic) long before North Carolina recommended it," Clapsaddle reports. "We set up roadblocks and allowed only residents or EBCI enrolled members to access the Boundary. We closed non-essential businesses, including Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and our government offices. We employed a sophisticated and comprehensive contact tracing system that has been credited with identifying asymptomatic carriers before they unknowingly transmitted the virus."
But even as they fought the pandemic, the tribe saw an "explosion" of drug-overdose deaths, and even more overdoses that didn't result in death. Tribal aid ensured that the community was cared for, "but it also meant that we became one of the few communities in far western North Carolina who still had the means to be paying customers — especially in the illegal drug trade," Clapsaddle reports.
Because of the pandemic blockades, drug runners tried to make the same money with fewer trips, Clapsaddle reports. So they brought in a concentrated form of fentanyl-laced heroin that street dealers could later cut before selling to customers. But fentanyl is deadly in tiny doses, and the new product was stronger even after the dealers cut it. That resulted in seven deaths.
That highlighted for tribal leaders the lack of consistent data on overdoses and drug use, Clapsaddle reports. Emergency care providers and health-care facilities often don't code a death as an overdose, fearing it might bring stigma. Instead, they sometimes code such deaths as heart attacks.
"The EBCI’s Overdose Map, where the collected data is housed for analysis, also does not account for instances when Narcan, an overdose-reversing medication, was used," Clapsaddle reports. EBCI Secretary of Health and Human Services Vickie Bradley said she's trying to improve data collection.
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| Qualla Boundary is shown in red, adjoining the Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
"In partnership with the nonprofit Dogwood Health Trust, a nonprofit health organization based in Asheville, we began providing access to free community-wide testing (even asymptomatic) long before North Carolina recommended it," Clapsaddle reports. "We set up roadblocks and allowed only residents or EBCI enrolled members to access the Boundary. We closed non-essential businesses, including Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and our government offices. We employed a sophisticated and comprehensive contact tracing system that has been credited with identifying asymptomatic carriers before they unknowingly transmitted the virus."
But even as they fought the pandemic, the tribe saw an "explosion" of drug-overdose deaths, and even more overdoses that didn't result in death. Tribal aid ensured that the community was cared for, "but it also meant that we became one of the few communities in far western North Carolina who still had the means to be paying customers — especially in the illegal drug trade," Clapsaddle reports.
Because of the pandemic blockades, drug runners tried to make the same money with fewer trips, Clapsaddle reports. So they brought in a concentrated form of fentanyl-laced heroin that street dealers could later cut before selling to customers. But fentanyl is deadly in tiny doses, and the new product was stronger even after the dealers cut it. That resulted in seven deaths.
That highlighted for tribal leaders the lack of consistent data on overdoses and drug use, Clapsaddle reports. Emergency care providers and health-care facilities often don't code a death as an overdose, fearing it might bring stigma. Instead, they sometimes code such deaths as heart attacks.
"The EBCI’s Overdose Map, where the collected data is housed for analysis, also does not account for instances when Narcan, an overdose-reversing medication, was used," Clapsaddle reports. EBCI Secretary of Health and Human Services Vickie Bradley said she's trying to improve data collection.
The biggest takeaway from the pandemic, Clapsaddle writes, is that "To date, state and federal aid has done little to assist impoverished Native communities coping with historical grief and trauma in their fight against substance abuse. But if we are to learn anything from covid-19, it is that waiting for outside help is a death sentence."
Friday, August 14, 2020
Trump trashes mail-in voting, then says he would sign coronavirus relief deal with Postal Service funding
"President Trump stirred new questions on Thursday about whether he would seek to hold up new money to the Postal Service to impede mail-in voting this fall in the middle of the pandemic," Emily Cochrane and Hailey Fuchs report for The New York Times. "Repeating the unfounded claim that the election could be riddled with fraud if mail ballots were widely used, he made clear that he opposed Democratic demands for additional funding for both the post office and election-security measures because of his opposition to mail-in voting. Still, he left open the possibility that he could come to a deal as part of a larger negotiation over a new round of economic stimulus."
During his press conference on Thursday, Trump "said that he would in fact sign a coronavirus relief deal if it had funding for the U.S. Postal Service, after saying earlier in the day that he wouldn’t accept a bill with USPS money," Melanie Zanona reports for Politico. "But Democrats are still worried that Trump will try to impede mail-in voting efforts ahead of the election, especially after he explicitly said that was the reason he was opposed to USPS money."
House Democrats' relief bill would allot $25 billion to the Postal Service, while the Senate Republicans' bill includes no aid for the financially strapped agency, on which rural Americans disproportionately rely. Partly because of a drop in mail volume, the service projected in May that it will lose another $22 billion over the next year and a half, and could run out of money by September without a bailout.
The House and Senate are still reportedly "miles apart" on agreeing on the next pandemic relief package, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Since both chambers are out of town for the August recess, it'll be September before they even begin to negotiate on a reconciled coronavirus bill. They'll also be busy working on the omnibus spending bill that must be passed by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown, Zanona reports, all of which will make for a "crazy September."
House Democrats' relief bill would allot $25 billion to the Postal Service, while the Senate Republicans' bill includes no aid for the financially strapped agency, on which rural Americans disproportionately rely. Partly because of a drop in mail volume, the service projected in May that it will lose another $22 billion over the next year and a half, and could run out of money by September without a bailout.
The House and Senate are still reportedly "miles apart" on agreeing on the next pandemic relief package, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Since both chambers are out of town for the August recess, it'll be September before they even begin to negotiate on a reconciled coronavirus bill. They'll also be busy working on the omnibus spending bill that must be passed by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown, Zanona reports, all of which will make for a "crazy September."
Writer, a longtime rural resident, says President Trump's attack on the Postal Service is a threat to rural America
President Trump's efforts to dismantle and further privatize the U.S. Postal Service are a threat to rural America, longtime rural resident Bill McKibben writes for The New Yorker.
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| Bill McKibben |
The post office was once a federally funded cabinet-level department, but in 1971 Congress and President Nixon made it a self-funding independent agency that was meant to run like a business (partly as a swipe against its labor unions). However, the Postal Service has been hobbled by congressional constraints, such as a 2006 requirement to prefund employee pensions. By the end of 2019, nearly $120 billion of its $160.9 billion in debt came from that.
If GOP efforts to privatize the Postal Service succeed, it will "suck out what life remains from too many of the rural communities that many of those Republicans theoretically represent," McKibben writes.
Jane Kleeb, chair of Nebraska's Democratic Party, told McKibben that the mail "is a universal service that literally levels the playing field for all Americans. It is how we order goods, send gifts to our family, and keep small businesses alive. In the era of the coronavirus, mail is now our lifeline to have our voices heard for our ballots in the election. In fact, in eleven counties in our state, they have only mail-in ballots, because of how massive the county is land-wise."
A decade ago in McKibben's own small town, USPS tried to close the post office. That would have forced residents to make a 12-mile round trip to another town to pick up mail, but they came together and beat the idea. McKibben writes, "Robert Frost once lived in our town, and he maintained that good fences made good neighbors. But he was wrong: it’s the post office that does the trick."
Trump administration weakens drillers' responsibility to detect and fix leaks of methane, a major greenhouse gas
"The Trump administration formally weakened a major climate-change regulation on Thursday — effectively freeing oil and gas companies from the need to detect and repair methane leaks — even as new research shows that far more of the potent greenhouse gas is seeping into the atmosphere than previously known," Coral Davenport reports for the The New York Times. Methane has a much stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide, but dissipates much more quickly.
Under the new rules, the Environmental Protection Agency effectively no longer has the authority to regulate methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is the main component of natural gas. Instead, methane will now be regulated under the weaker standards of the Clean Air Act, Steven Mufson reports for The Washington Post. The Post's James Hohmann notes that Trump dispatched EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to Pennsylvania to sign the order, in a bid to help him carry the state again.
Wheeler "has justified the move by citing EPA data showing that leaks from domestic oil and gas wells have remained steady over the past decade, even as oil and gas production boomed," Davenport reports. "However, numerous recent studies show the opposite: that methane emissions from drilling sites in the United States are far more extensive than the EPA’s official numbers. Overall, methane levels are in fact climbing steadily nationwide, according to the research, and have reached record highs globally in part because of leaks from fossil fuel production."
The move highlights a petroleum-industry divide between large oil and gas companies and smaller independents. "Giants like BP and Shell attacked the move, while trade groups including the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy Alliance embraced it," Ben Geman reports for Axios. But Geman notes that large multinational companies have more resources to become compliant, and many have already pledged to reduce methane emissions, so they have a competitive advantage over smaller drillers.
"The new methane rules worsen an already grim situation in one of the world’s largest regional climate emissions bombs," the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeast New Mexico, writes Candice Bernd of Truthout. "In June, environmental watchdog Environmental Defense Fund flew specially equipped helicopters above hundreds of Permian drilling sites as part of its Permian Methane Analysis Project, or PermianMAP. Researchers found that more than one in 10 flares in the Permian Basin could be unlit or malfunctioning, accounting for a majority of the 300,000 tons of methane vented from the region every year. The amount of vented methane is three times the annual total the EPA reports."
Aug. 19 webinar to discuss new toolkit to help explain how social and economic factors affect rural communities' health
A free webinar on Wednesday, Aug. 19, will discuss a new online toolkit meant to support organizations implementing programs that address social determinants of health in rural communities. Determinants include income, level of education, race, ethnicity and degree of rurality.
The webinar will begin at 1 p.m. ET and will take about an hour. The Rural Health Information Hub and the Norc Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis will present. Click here for more information about the webinar or to register. Click here to see the toolkit.
The webinar will begin at 1 p.m. ET and will take about an hour. The Rural Health Information Hub and the Norc Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis will present. Click here for more information about the webinar or to register. Click here to see the toolkit.
Quick hits: Podcast explores being Black in Appalachia; why some Tennessee tomatoes have worldwide fans
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.
New podcast explores what it's like to be Black in Appalachia. Read more here.
Three Appalachian women tell their stories in new book about what makes Appalachian people "tick." Read more here.
Why the tomatoes grown in a rural Tennessee county attract fans from all over the world. Read more here.
Vermont bucks the trend of rural covid-19 growth. Read more here.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will hold a webinar Tuesday, Aug. 18, to discuss its new pilot program for rural health-care providers. Read more here.
Study finds that rural children with autism can be productively treated via telehealth. Read more here.
New podcast explores what it's like to be Black in Appalachia. Read more here.
Three Appalachian women tell their stories in new book about what makes Appalachian people "tick." Read more here.
Why the tomatoes grown in a rural Tennessee county attract fans from all over the world. Read more here.
Vermont bucks the trend of rural covid-19 growth. Read more here.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will hold a webinar Tuesday, Aug. 18, to discuss its new pilot program for rural health-care providers. Read more here.
Study finds that rural children with autism can be productively treated via telehealth. Read more here.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Rural school districts share creative solutions for lack of broadband, but they need more support, funding
Lack of broadband access was a big challenge for rural school districts this past spring, and it remains so for many districts that are continuing distance learning this fall, according to education policy analysts at the Brookings Institution, who worked with rural districts during the pandemic. But some rural school districts were able to come up with innovative strategies for getting around it, according to a National Center for Rural Education Research Networks study cited by the Brookings analysts; such examples might inspire other rural school districts.
Some solutions that urban and suburban school districts tried, like distributing hotspots, don't always work in rural areas; there may not be enough infrastructure to support broadband at all. Also, the Brookings analysts found that fewer rural districts expected teachers to provide distance instruction and monitor student progress.
Some creative solutions from schools cited in the NCRERN study include: mapping locations in the community that offer free internet access, buying cell phone data for students, connecting families with companies that offer free or inexpensive internet, and setting up hotspots and outdoor work areas on school grounds so students could work and remain socially distant.
Some solutions that urban and suburban school districts tried, like distributing hotspots, don't always work in rural areas; there may not be enough infrastructure to support broadband at all. Also, the Brookings analysts found that fewer rural districts expected teachers to provide distance instruction and monitor student progress.
Some creative solutions from schools cited in the NCRERN study include: mapping locations in the community that offer free internet access, buying cell phone data for students, connecting families with companies that offer free or inexpensive internet, and setting up hotspots and outdoor work areas on school grounds so students could work and remain socially distant.
Mortality rate remains high among Black men in rural areas
Americans' average lifespan has increased over the past half-century, but significant disparities remain among rural residents, especially Black men, according to a newly published cross-sectional data analysis.
The researchers examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration from 1968 to 2016. They note that the mortality rate has improved among rural Black men, but not as much as among people who are white, urban, and/or female.
Higher mortality rates in rural settings are likely because of the higher incidence of chronic illness and unintentional injuries, the researchers say. Those trends are more pressing among rural people of color, who are more likely to live in low-income neighborhoods, have chronic illnesses, and have blue-collar jobs (where physical injuries are more likely).
New rural coronavirus infections declined in first week of August, but rural covid-19 deaths grew by 52%
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| Covid-19 red zones, Aug. 1-8. Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version. |
Nonmetropolitan counties "had a 6 percent decline in new coronavirus infections from August 1-8. Rural counties had approximately 54,000 new cases during the period," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. "The number of new cases in metropolitan counties started to decrease several weeks ago while the virus’ surge continued in rural areas. Metro counties had 314,000 new cases last week, a drop of 17% from the previous week."
The declining number of new cases is one of several indicators that the rural surge is leveling off. Additionally, the number of rural counties in red zones fell from 746 last week to 734 this week, Murphy and Marema report. Red zone counties are a White House task-force designation for counties with more than 100 new infections per 100,000 residents in a week (or one per thousand).
There are other hopeful signs: "Nearly two-thirds of all rural counties with new cases this week had a lower infection rate August 1-8 than they did the previous week," Murphy and Marema report. Also, "from August 1-8, only 817 rural counties had an increase in their new-case rate. The previous week, 888 rural counties had a higher new-case rate."
However, the Yonder notes that hundreds of rural counties have been on the red-zone list for weeks, some for more than a month, and that the rural death toll is rising. "The number of deaths in a one-week period grew by 52% August 1-8, with 1,035 fatalities. The total number of rural residents who have died from covid-19 stands at 11,313. That’s about 7% of the nation’s overall death toll of approximately 160,000 as of August 8," Murphy and Marema report. "Rural counties had a 70% increase in deaths from the end of June to the end of July."
Journalist shares her struggle with covid-19, and a warning
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| Jennifer P. Brown |
Brown, former editor of Hopkinsville's daily newspaper, the Kentucky New Era, writes that she tested positive for covid-19 in July despite taking every precaution: "I was motivated to avoid an illness that could put me in the hospital and maybe on a ventilator. I am 58 years old, the same age my mother was when she died on a ventilator. That awful fate didn’t seem like a remote possibility to me."
She tested positive in early July after feeling exhausted for days. The fatigue and brain fog were her worst symptoms, though she writes that she was also more sensitive to heat and humidity, and it took her much longer to feel back to normal than she expected. She notes that covid-19 doesn't always present the classic symptoms; she only ran a fever for one night and never had the extreme respiratory distress many patients report.
She writes, "I’m writing about this now because it’s important to know that the coronavirus can reach almost anyone — including people who try hard to avoid it. Also, it seems odd for me to keep writing news stories about all the ways the pandemic is affecting my hometown without acknowledging that it has also affected me. In community journalism, there are fewer degrees of separation between reporters and the stories they cover than there are in large media markets. Often it feels like there are zero degrees of separation, especially when the news happens to a reporter."
She writes, "I’m writing about this now because it’s important to know that the coronavirus can reach almost anyone — including people who try hard to avoid it. Also, it seems odd for me to keep writing news stories about all the ways the pandemic is affecting my hometown without acknowledging that it has also affected me. In community journalism, there are fewer degrees of separation between reporters and the stories they cover than there are in large media markets. Often it feels like there are zero degrees of separation, especially when the news happens to a reporter."
Brown writes that, for example, the Christian County Health Department and the Jennie Stuart Medical Center are both major information sources about the local impact of the pandemic for the Chronicle, but both also gave her care and information. She shares other examples where her dual identities as a journalist and as a covid-19 patient (or potential patient) gave her conflicting perspectives on local health providers and agencies, public policy, and personal freedom. Read more here.
Brown is the programming co-chair of the national advisory board of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes The Rural Blog.
Nearly half of Iowa corn crop damaged in derecho storm
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| Before and after satellite images show the scale of crop damage in Iowa from Monday's storm. (NASA Worldview images) |
Monday’s derecho across the Corn Belt and Midwest laid siege to more than 10 million acres of Iowa’s corn and soybean crop, devastating farmers and capping off what has already been a difficult few years of farming for many," Matthew Cappucci reports for The Washington Post. "Up to 43 percent of the state’s corn and soybean crop has suffered damage from the storms that brought winds exceeding 100 miles per hour at times, a severe blow to a $10 billion industry that’s central to the Hawkeye State’s economy. The magnitude of the battered vegetation was even visible on the same weather satellites used to track Monday’s violent thunderstorms."
It may take weeks to understand the full scope of the damage, but initial reports say it's significant, said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at a news conference Tuesday. In the meantime, Reynolds declared 20 counties as disasters, allowing more state funding for disaster response and recovery. "The state is also making grants available to low-income families who find themselves faced with food, repair, or temporary housing expenses in the wake of the disaster," Cappucci reports.
The state is juggling storm response along with pandemic management efforts. Some drive-up coronavirus testing sites were closed earlier this week, but Reynolds said they will reopen as soon as possible.
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Infections among children spike as schools try to reopen; in rural areas, in-person instruction is more likely
A new analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association says "more than 97,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July, a 40 percent increase in the number of children who have been reported to have the virus," Emma Coleman reports for Route Fifty. That could complicate schools' efforts to resume classes, especially in rural areas, which are more likely to reopen with in-person classes but are seeing increasing infection rates.
One rural Oklahoma school held in-person classes for two days, but then moved to online-only after a cafeteria worker tested positive, reports KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas. A photo of a crowded hallway in a high school in Paulding, Georgia, went viral after nine people in the photo later tested positive for the coronavirus, Laura Maggi reports for Route Fifty. The school moved instruction online.
Much still remains unknown about the virus's risk to children and their possible role in spreading the disease, The Washington Post reports.
But this is known: rural schools' "crumbling infrastructure" has been a health threat even before the pandemic, Whitney Kimball Coe and Mary Sketch write for The Daily Yonder. Coe and Sketch coordinate the Rural Assembly, a project of the Center for Rural Strategies. Rural Strategies also publishes the Yonder.
One rural Oklahoma school held in-person classes for two days, but then moved to online-only after a cafeteria worker tested positive, reports KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas. A photo of a crowded hallway in a high school in Paulding, Georgia, went viral after nine people in the photo later tested positive for the coronavirus, Laura Maggi reports for Route Fifty. The school moved instruction online.
Much still remains unknown about the virus's risk to children and their possible role in spreading the disease, The Washington Post reports.
But this is known: rural schools' "crumbling infrastructure" has been a health threat even before the pandemic, Whitney Kimball Coe and Mary Sketch write for The Daily Yonder. Coe and Sketch coordinate the Rural Assembly, a project of the Center for Rural Strategies. Rural Strategies also publishes the Yonder.
Pandemic threatens county fairs; most ineligible for aid
The pandemic has disrupted life in uncountable ways; county fairs are one. "Without the annual events, vendors, hotels and other small local businesses miss out on income they rely on. School-age children who spent the past year raising a pig or cow have no place to show or sell their work," April Simpson reports for Stateline. Many state fairs have also been canceled.
This year's cancellations or attendance limitations could put some county fairs' future in question. "Some fair operators fear for their fair's long-term survival, as many organizations are shut out of federal pandemic relief and receive little to no state money," Simpson reports.
Fairs generate about $4.7 billion annually, including money made on the fairgrounds for non-fair events such as RV shows, Simpson reports. Some fairs were able to get federal Paycheck Protection Program funds, but others were ineligible because they're quasi-governmental organizations or the wrong type of nonprofit. Only one-third of International Association of Fairs and Expositions members are eligible for federal aid. About 17 states provide some kind of financial aid to county fairs, often by subsidizing prizes for agricultural and other contests.
"A bill in the U.S. House, introduced by U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, a California Democrat, seeks $5 billion to create a new emergency grant program to help offset state and local fair losses," Simpson reports. "States would be able to apply for aid directly through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and then distribute it to fairs."
County fairs have been a linchpin of rural life. "Predating the founding of the United States, fairs began as markets designed to sell products. In the early 19th century, agricultural fairs became events for farm families to gather and share methods for improving crops and livestock," Simpson reports. "With educational and child labor policy changes, and other social shifts, fairs gradually became venues for agriculture education as more farmers in the 20th century went to college." Fairs also often serve as a platform for politicians to roll up their sleeves, glad-hand and give speeches.
In a nation with an increasing rural-urban cultural divide, county fairs help educate city dwellers about rural life. But more than that, "they’re celebrations of community where church dinners and stock car races provide opportunities to bump into friends and neighbors," Simpson reports. "Although the number of farmers has declined and fewer young people are choosing agriculture as a career, experts say fairs have become increasingly important."
This year's cancellations or attendance limitations could put some county fairs' future in question. "Some fair operators fear for their fair's long-term survival, as many organizations are shut out of federal pandemic relief and receive little to no state money," Simpson reports.
Fairs generate about $4.7 billion annually, including money made on the fairgrounds for non-fair events such as RV shows, Simpson reports. Some fairs were able to get federal Paycheck Protection Program funds, but others were ineligible because they're quasi-governmental organizations or the wrong type of nonprofit. Only one-third of International Association of Fairs and Expositions members are eligible for federal aid. About 17 states provide some kind of financial aid to county fairs, often by subsidizing prizes for agricultural and other contests.
"A bill in the U.S. House, introduced by U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, a California Democrat, seeks $5 billion to create a new emergency grant program to help offset state and local fair losses," Simpson reports. "States would be able to apply for aid directly through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and then distribute it to fairs."
County fairs have been a linchpin of rural life. "Predating the founding of the United States, fairs began as markets designed to sell products. In the early 19th century, agricultural fairs became events for farm families to gather and share methods for improving crops and livestock," Simpson reports. "With educational and child labor policy changes, and other social shifts, fairs gradually became venues for agriculture education as more farmers in the 20th century went to college." Fairs also often serve as a platform for politicians to roll up their sleeves, glad-hand and give speeches.
In a nation with an increasing rural-urban cultural divide, county fairs help educate city dwellers about rural life. But more than that, "they’re celebrations of community where church dinners and stock car races provide opportunities to bump into friends and neighbors," Simpson reports. "Although the number of farmers has declined and fewer young people are choosing agriculture as a career, experts say fairs have become increasingly important."
Pilot program Trump asked for gives rural health-care providers looser rules and a chance for up-front investments
A pilot program offers rural health-care providers a chance to be part of a pilot payment model with up-front investments, Heather Landi reports for Fierce Healthcare. President Trump ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to set up such a model last week. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will choose a handful of rural communities to participate in the program in early 2021, with the program beginning next summer.
The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation model is meant to help rural providers by loosening certain regulations. "Through regulatory flexibilities, health-care providers will be able to expand telehealth to allow the beneficiary’s place of residence to be an originating site and waive certain Medicare-hospital conditions of participation to allow a rural outpatient department and emergency room to be paid as if they were classified as a hospital," Landi reports. The model also allows providers to help patients with transportation and provide gift cards for chronic-disease management.
"The CHART model will feature two options for provider participation: the community transformation track and the accountable care organization transformation track," Landi reports. "As part of the community transformation track, the Trump administration is investing up to $75 million in seed money to enable up to 15 rural communities to participate."
The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation model is meant to help rural providers by loosening certain regulations. "Through regulatory flexibilities, health-care providers will be able to expand telehealth to allow the beneficiary’s place of residence to be an originating site and waive certain Medicare-hospital conditions of participation to allow a rural outpatient department and emergency room to be paid as if they were classified as a hospital," Landi reports. The model also allows providers to help patients with transportation and provide gift cards for chronic-disease management.
"The CHART model will feature two options for provider participation: the community transformation track and the accountable care organization transformation track," Landi reports. "As part of the community transformation track, the Trump administration is investing up to $75 million in seed money to enable up to 15 rural communities to participate."
Some federal agencies can't or won't say how many wildland firefighters have covid-19
Coronavirus infections and quarantines have sidelined many wildland firefighters, but some federal agencies can't or aren't keeping track of such infections; that and disjointed tracking practices among state and federal agencies could not only endanger other firefighters and their communities, but it could also make it difficult to contain wildfires if firefighters are sick or forced to quarantine, Zoya Teirstein reports for Grist.
"Of the five federal wildfire-fighting agencies Grist reached out to, only the Forest Service, the National Parks Service, and the Bureau of Land Management responded to requests for information about covid-19 cases among wildland firefighters this season. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond by the time this article was published."
A BLM spokesperson told Teirstein it has had 32 covid-19 cases in its Fire and Aviation division, and said it had quickly isolated infected employees. A National Parks Service spokesperson refused to say how many of its wildland firefighters have tested positive, but said if one did, the agency would work with local authorities to limit the virus's spread.
The Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public hands and about two-thirds of the nation's wildfire resources, including 10,000 firefighters, told Teirstein that it doesn't have information on coronavirus cases among its wildland firefighters. The agency is "in the process of separating the fire employees from the non-fire employees who have tested positive," a spokesperson said.
Tracking infections among wildland firefighters is critical; because social distancing is difficult for the tightly packed crews, the infection is more likely to spread quickly. "That leaves contact tracing and isolation as firefighting agencies’ best tools for reducing covid-19 transmission among firefighters — but it’s impossible for an agency to use these tools when it doesn’t know who’s been infected in the first place," Teirstein reports.
Some states, such as Alaska and California, seem to be doing a more comprehensive job of tracking infections among wildland firefighters, Teirstein reports.
"Of the five federal wildfire-fighting agencies Grist reached out to, only the Forest Service, the National Parks Service, and the Bureau of Land Management responded to requests for information about covid-19 cases among wildland firefighters this season. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond by the time this article was published."
A BLM spokesperson told Teirstein it has had 32 covid-19 cases in its Fire and Aviation division, and said it had quickly isolated infected employees. A National Parks Service spokesperson refused to say how many of its wildland firefighters have tested positive, but said if one did, the agency would work with local authorities to limit the virus's spread.
The Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public hands and about two-thirds of the nation's wildfire resources, including 10,000 firefighters, told Teirstein that it doesn't have information on coronavirus cases among its wildland firefighters. The agency is "in the process of separating the fire employees from the non-fire employees who have tested positive," a spokesperson said.
Tracking infections among wildland firefighters is critical; because social distancing is difficult for the tightly packed crews, the infection is more likely to spread quickly. "That leaves contact tracing and isolation as firefighting agencies’ best tools for reducing covid-19 transmission among firefighters — but it’s impossible for an agency to use these tools when it doesn’t know who’s been infected in the first place," Teirstein reports.
Some states, such as Alaska and California, seem to be doing a more comprehensive job of tracking infections among wildland firefighters, Teirstein reports.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Struggling small dairy farmers in swing state Wisconsin could help determine the presidential election
Small dairy farmers everywhere are struggling, but in Wisconsin the pain is particularly acute because the industry makes up such a large part of the state's economy. That could hurt President Trump in November, since Wisconsin is a swing state, Dan Kaufman reports for The New Yorker.
Kaufman paints a grim picture: "Five years ago, the price of milk fell precipitously, accelerating the long unravelling of rural Wisconsin. Since 2010, the population in two-thirds of the state’s rural counties has decreased, leading to a shrinking workforce, fewer jobs and businesses, and slower income growth rates than in metro counties. More than 70 rural schools have closed, and for the past three years the state has led the country in family-farm bankruptcies."
Many banks have stopped loaning dairy farmers money, Angie Sullivan of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, told Kaufman. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue offered little hope for small dairy farmers in a town hall at the World Dairy Expo in Madison last October, saying that "In America, the big get bigger and the small go out," Kaufman notes.
Over the past decade, about half the dairy farms in Wisconsin went bankrupt; today there are about 7,000. "Yet the number of cows has remained constant, because of consolidation and the proliferation of factory dairy farms, some of which have herds of more than 5,000 cows," Kaufman reports.
Rural voters in Wisconsin and other battleground states proved decisive in 2016. Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, and got nearly two-thirds of the vote in rural areas. "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the largest shift in voting between Obama’s seven-point victory in Wisconsin, in 2012, and Trump’s one-point win came in communities that cast fewer than a thousand votes," Kaufman reports. But numerous polls show that Trump's support is down in such areas, and rural voters moved to the left in the Wisconsin primary.
One dairy farmer Kaufman interviewed, Jerry Volenec, said he voted for Obama in 2012 but went for Trump in 2016. He says he now regrets that vote: "If I had known the things I know about him now, I wouldn’t have voted for him."
Kaufman paints a grim picture: "Five years ago, the price of milk fell precipitously, accelerating the long unravelling of rural Wisconsin. Since 2010, the population in two-thirds of the state’s rural counties has decreased, leading to a shrinking workforce, fewer jobs and businesses, and slower income growth rates than in metro counties. More than 70 rural schools have closed, and for the past three years the state has led the country in family-farm bankruptcies."
Many banks have stopped loaning dairy farmers money, Angie Sullivan of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, told Kaufman. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue offered little hope for small dairy farmers in a town hall at the World Dairy Expo in Madison last October, saying that "In America, the big get bigger and the small go out," Kaufman notes.
Over the past decade, about half the dairy farms in Wisconsin went bankrupt; today there are about 7,000. "Yet the number of cows has remained constant, because of consolidation and the proliferation of factory dairy farms, some of which have herds of more than 5,000 cows," Kaufman reports.
Rural voters in Wisconsin and other battleground states proved decisive in 2016. Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, and got nearly two-thirds of the vote in rural areas. "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the largest shift in voting between Obama’s seven-point victory in Wisconsin, in 2012, and Trump’s one-point win came in communities that cast fewer than a thousand votes," Kaufman reports. But numerous polls show that Trump's support is down in such areas, and rural voters moved to the left in the Wisconsin primary.
One dairy farmer Kaufman interviewed, Jerry Volenec, said he voted for Obama in 2012 but went for Trump in 2016. He says he now regrets that vote: "If I had known the things I know about him now, I wouldn’t have voted for him."
Critics say Mississippi program meant to reward student achievement is unfair and exacerbates rural inequalities
Mississippi's legislature created the School Recognition Program in 2014, a merit-pay plan that rewards teachers with cash bonuses for improving student performance. Critics say the program is confusing, sometimes decreases morale for teachers, and may unfairly penalize teachers at schools where students underperform because of systematic inequalities—often in poor rural communities where Black students are a majority, Aallyah Wright reports for Mississippi Today.
"Under the School Recognition Program, teachers in A-rated schools or schools that improve from a ‘F’ to ‘D’ or a ‘D’ to ‘C’ receive $100 per student, and ‘B’ rated schools receive $75 per student," Wright reports. "Since 2017, the Legislature has funneled about $71 million into the recognition program. In fiscal year 2020, nearly 21,000 certified teachers and staff in more than 500 public schools collectively received $25 million, according to Mississippi Today’s analysis of program records. No administrators can receive an award."
The controversial program is now "at the center of a power struggle between the executive and legislative branch, and it’s the reason why the K-12 budget has not been appropriated this year," Wright reports. "Gov. Tate Reeves partially vetoed about $2.2 billion of the appropriation last month because, he said, the budget bill did not fund the program."
"Under the School Recognition Program, teachers in A-rated schools or schools that improve from a ‘F’ to ‘D’ or a ‘D’ to ‘C’ receive $100 per student, and ‘B’ rated schools receive $75 per student," Wright reports. "Since 2017, the Legislature has funneled about $71 million into the recognition program. In fiscal year 2020, nearly 21,000 certified teachers and staff in more than 500 public schools collectively received $25 million, according to Mississippi Today’s analysis of program records. No administrators can receive an award."
The controversial program is now "at the center of a power struggle between the executive and legislative branch, and it’s the reason why the K-12 budget has not been appropriated this year," Wright reports. "Gov. Tate Reeves partially vetoed about $2.2 billion of the appropriation last month because, he said, the budget bill did not fund the program."
Reeves said in a Facebook post that the state's schools are improving in many areas and that the SRP was "a big reason why." However, "research shows merit pay systems have no effect on student outcomes," Wright reports. And a Mississippi Today analysis shows that 53 percent of the programs funds have gone to majority-white school districts.
Some teachers Wright interviewed said they appreciated the bonuses, but said they felt conflicted because poorer school districts need the money more. Some also said that money is helpful, but doesn't motivate teachers. "We’re inspired to keep our students growing and improving," said middle school teacher Amanda Reiser. "Would money be helpful? Absolutely … I feel like it needs to be across the board. Take all of that money and divvy it up to everybody and keep our teacher (shortage) rate low."
Trump presidency highlights the 'complete fusion of evangelical Christianity and conservative politics'
President Trump rose to power partly because he promised evangelical Christians more political power, and such voters could be his best shot at re-election, Elizabeth Dias reports for The New York Times.
"The Trump era has revealed the complete fusion of evangelical Christianity and conservative politics, even as white evangelical Christianity continues to decline as a share of the national population," Dias reports. "There are some signs of fraying at the edges of the coalition, among some women and young people. If even a small fraction turns away from Mr. Trump, it could make the difference to his re-election. But even if he loses in November, mainstream evangelical Christianity has made plain its deepest impulses and exposed where the majority of its believers pledge allegiance."
One January 2016 speech at Dordt University, a Christian college in Sioux Center, Iowa, was widely covered because Trump said he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" without losing any voters, Dias reports. But some locals in the town of 7,500 keyed into another part of the speech: "Christianity will have power," Trump said. "If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power, you don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that."
Though only 11 percent of Republicans in Sioux County caucused for Trump nine days later, 81% did in November, matching the 81% of nationwide white evangelicals who voted for Trump nationwide.
White evangelicals could be "Trump's best chance at re-election," Dias reports, since he has trailed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by double digits in nationwide polls for a month. Though Trump's approval rating has gone down slightly among white evangelicals, 82% said they intend to vote for him in November, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in late June.
Plenty of pundits, researchers and journalists have speculated, investigated, or gathered data on why evangelicals support Trump, with theories ranging from the "purely transactional" promise of appointing more conservative judges and ending legal abortion to hatred of Hillary Clinton.
"But beneath all this, there is another explanation. One that is more raw and fundamental. Evangelicals did not support Trump in spite of who he is," Dias writes. "They supported him because of who he is, and because of who they are. He is their protector, the bully who is on their side, the one who offered safety amid their fears that their country as they know it, and their place in it, is changing, and changing quickly. White straight married couples with children who go to church regularly are no longer the American mainstream. An entire way of life, one in which their values were dominant, could be headed for extinction. And Trump offered to restore them to power, as though they have not been in power all along."
"The Trump era has revealed the complete fusion of evangelical Christianity and conservative politics, even as white evangelical Christianity continues to decline as a share of the national population," Dias reports. "There are some signs of fraying at the edges of the coalition, among some women and young people. If even a small fraction turns away from Mr. Trump, it could make the difference to his re-election. But even if he loses in November, mainstream evangelical Christianity has made plain its deepest impulses and exposed where the majority of its believers pledge allegiance."
One January 2016 speech at Dordt University, a Christian college in Sioux Center, Iowa, was widely covered because Trump said he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" without losing any voters, Dias reports. But some locals in the town of 7,500 keyed into another part of the speech: "Christianity will have power," Trump said. "If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power, you don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that."
Though only 11 percent of Republicans in Sioux County caucused for Trump nine days later, 81% did in November, matching the 81% of nationwide white evangelicals who voted for Trump nationwide.
White evangelicals could be "Trump's best chance at re-election," Dias reports, since he has trailed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by double digits in nationwide polls for a month. Though Trump's approval rating has gone down slightly among white evangelicals, 82% said they intend to vote for him in November, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in late June.
Plenty of pundits, researchers and journalists have speculated, investigated, or gathered data on why evangelicals support Trump, with theories ranging from the "purely transactional" promise of appointing more conservative judges and ending legal abortion to hatred of Hillary Clinton.
"But beneath all this, there is another explanation. One that is more raw and fundamental. Evangelicals did not support Trump in spite of who he is," Dias writes. "They supported him because of who he is, and because of who they are. He is their protector, the bully who is on their side, the one who offered safety amid their fears that their country as they know it, and their place in it, is changing, and changing quickly. White straight married couples with children who go to church regularly are no longer the American mainstream. An entire way of life, one in which their values were dominant, could be headed for extinction. And Trump offered to restore them to power, as though they have not been in power all along."
White evangelicals Dias interviewed expressed fears that Christianity—which they often equated with rural values—was under attack, and said they felt that city dwellers looked down on rural residents, and didn't understand their way of life. Trump, they said, recognized that fear and would fight for them.
"The one group of people that people felt like they could dis and mock and put down had become the Christian. Just the middle-class, middle-American Christians," said Lisa Burg of Orange City, Iowa. "That was the one group left that you could just totally put down and call deplorable. And he recognized that, You know what? Yeah, it’s OK that we have our set of values, too. I think people finally said, 'Yes, we finally have somebody that’s willing to say we’re not bad, we need to have a voice too.'"
"The one group of people that people felt like they could dis and mock and put down had become the Christian. Just the middle-class, middle-American Christians," said Lisa Burg of Orange City, Iowa. "That was the one group left that you could just totally put down and call deplorable. And he recognized that, You know what? Yeah, it’s OK that we have our set of values, too. I think people finally said, 'Yes, we finally have somebody that’s willing to say we’re not bad, we need to have a voice too.'"
Registration open for Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference, to be held online
Registration is open for the Society of Environmental Journalists' 30th annual conference. This year's conference will be held online on Sept. 16, 17, 23 and 30; the theme is "Emergencies, Elections and the Environment." Click here for more information or to register.
Founder of Laura's Lean Beef wants to grow a new hyperlocal, self-sustaining agricultural economy
A Kentucky cattle farmer who founded an eco-friendly beef empire is setting her sights on a new project meant to "create jobs and wealth in rural Kentucky, build an alternative to the industrial agribusiness economic system, and remove the existential threat posed by greenhouse gases," Mark Green reports for The Lane Report, a Lexington-based business magazine.
When farmer Laura Ann Freeman founded Laura's Lean Beef in the early 1980's, she wanted to see if hormone- and antibiotic-free beef could compete in the supermarket with beef from larger suppliers. It turned out that people were willing to pay a little more for that. "By the time she sold the business in 2007, it had grown to a network of 600 organic beef farms across the nation and was doing $135 million in annual wholesale business," Green reports.
Freeman is using her seventh-generation, 1,500-acre family farm in Clark County as a test case, and if it works there, she hopes to recreate it across Kentucky, then nationwide. In essence, she wants to make her farm "the linchpin of a new, self-supporting hyperlocal agriculture economy that creates jobs and wealth, while also showing that regenerative land management practice sequesters carbon to reverse climate change," Green reports.
When farmer Laura Ann Freeman founded Laura's Lean Beef in the early 1980's, she wanted to see if hormone- and antibiotic-free beef could compete in the supermarket with beef from larger suppliers. It turned out that people were willing to pay a little more for that. "By the time she sold the business in 2007, it had grown to a network of 600 organic beef farms across the nation and was doing $135 million in annual wholesale business," Green reports.
Freeman is using her seventh-generation, 1,500-acre family farm in Clark County as a test case, and if it works there, she hopes to recreate it across Kentucky, then nationwide. In essence, she wants to make her farm "the linchpin of a new, self-supporting hyperlocal agriculture economy that creates jobs and wealth, while also showing that regenerative land management practice sequesters carbon to reverse climate change," Green reports.
Monday, August 10, 2020
Ammonium nitrate, blamed for Beirut explosion, is all over U.S., and unevenly regulated, due to agriculture's influence
The explosion in Beirut last week that killed more than 130 people was fueled by 2,750 metric tons of an unsafely stored fertilizer. That fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, is common in the U.S., and it's unevenly regulated. That could put more people at risk, Joe Wertz reports for the Center for Public Integrity.
"When the EPA finally released its Chemical Disaster Rule, it didn’t add ammonium nitrate to the list of 'highly hazardous' chemicals. Many safety advocates said the regulations were too soft on chemical manufacturers and users, but conceded the changes were at least a slight improvement from previous rules," Wertz reports. "When President Donald Trump took office, his administration weakened the oversight with a 'reconsideration rule' that removed third-party audits and safer-technologies assessments — a move the EPA said would save industry $88 million." In contrast, the damage from the Texas explosion alone was $200 million.
"A 2020 Center for Public Integrity investigation found uneven oversight of the chemical in the United States, even after efforts to strengthen federal rules," Wertz reports. Ammonium nitrate "has been a key component of catastrophic industrial accidents and terrorism, including the 2013 blast at an agricultural-products retailer that killed 15 and injured 260 people in Texas, and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168."
After the Texas disaster, then-President Obama ordered officials to reduce the risks of hazardous chemicals, but agriculture lobbyists sought to block broad amendments to the Environmental Protection Agency's risk-management program, Wertz reports.
The Trump administration has tried to eliminate the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which probes such industrial accidents; though he's not been able to convince Congress to defund the CSHIB,"he’s kept it from releasing its reports by not filling the board’s four vacant seats, Public Integrity reported," Wertz reports.
Investigation finds whites are over-represented in many Midwestern police forces, including rural ones
The police force is a lot whiter than the general populace in many Midwestern areas, according to a collaborative reporting project by Lee Enterprises newspapers.
Reporters at 14 newspapers and online media companies sampled 68 municipal, county and state police departments in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and found that white officers were over-represented in 62 of those agencies. The gap is seen across urban, suburban and rural areas.
"Most police and other public officials interviewed for the Lee diversity analysis acknowledged diversity in proportion to community demographics is important on police forces," the story reports. "But challenges persist in recruiting that balance, and diversity within police ranks is no panacea for the systemic racism alleged by many who continue seeking reform throughout the nation's web of law enforcement agencies, many officials throughout the four states say."
Reporters at 14 newspapers and online media companies sampled 68 municipal, county and state police departments in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and found that white officers were over-represented in 62 of those agencies. The gap is seen across urban, suburban and rural areas.
"Most police and other public officials interviewed for the Lee diversity analysis acknowledged diversity in proportion to community demographics is important on police forces," the story reports. "But challenges persist in recruiting that balance, and diversity within police ranks is no panacea for the systemic racism alleged by many who continue seeking reform throughout the nation's web of law enforcement agencies, many officials throughout the four states say."
Thu. webinar from Harvard to explore rural-urban economic divide, accuracy of metrics used to measure economy
A panel of journalists and policy experts will discuss the rural-urban economic divide in a free webinar at 1 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 13. Registration is required, and the webinar will last about an hour. Click here for more information or to register.
The webinar will be hosted by Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and is part of a series aimed at exploring the difference in how people experience economic opportunity and how the economy is portrayed and understood by the media, government, and elite institutions using yardsticks (such as gross domestic product, the stock market, and unemployment rates) that don't always reflect economic reality for Americans.
The webinar will be hosted by Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and is part of a series aimed at exploring the difference in how people experience economic opportunity and how the economy is portrayed and understood by the media, government, and elite institutions using yardsticks (such as gross domestic product, the stock market, and unemployment rates) that don't always reflect economic reality for Americans.
From the website: "Divides – economic, racial, cultural, and educational, to name just a few – exist between communities across the country. But the perceived divide between rural and urban areas have been a lightning rod for our national conversation over the past several years. [The panelists] will dig into what is real about the divide between rural and urban America, and where we actually find more commonalities than differences across these communities. Come hear the real stories of what is happening economically in urban and rural America."
The panelists will be:
The panelists will be:
- Connor Sheets, investigative reporter for the Alabama Media Group
- Phillip Martin, senior investigative reporter for the WGBH News Center for Investigative Reporting in Boston
- Dr. Gordon Hanson, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
- Setti Warren, executive director of the Shorenstein Center and former mayor of Newton, Mass.
- Tara Westover, author of Educated and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School
Airbnb bookings outside top metros 25% higher than in 2019
Coronavirus infection rates soared in rural America in July, but in June, rural Airbnb bookings surged as vacationers sought to escape the pandemic.
"According to Airbnb, hosts in rural areas of the U.S. earned over $200 million in June 2020, an increase of more than 25 percent from the same period a year ago. Airbnb also said more than nine of every 10 dollars earned by hosts for June trips inside the U.S. were for sites outside the 10 biggest American cities by population," Michelle Gao reports for CNBC.
Airbnb defines "rural" very broadly, places (presumably counties) with fewer than 100 people per square kilometer, or 160 per square mile. That includes many small metro areas and outlying counties of medium-sized metros.
"Airbnb’s data also supports hosts’ speculation that guests are choosing to stay local," CNBC reports. "In New York, for example, Airbnb hosts earned over $5.8 million from guests living within 300 miles during June, according to data from the company."
Other trends Airbnb noted were longer average stays and larger groups, most likely comprised of multi-generational families looking to stay together, Gao reports.
Farms that sell locally doing better during pandemic than farms that depend on longer supply chains
"While farms that rely on other businesses to ferry their products to consumers have struggled, farms that sell directly to consumers have not, farmers and experts said," Marissa Plescia reports for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. "The virus has upended supply chains: An Ohio Farm Bureau survey in April showed that about 45 percent of respondents experienced disruptions distributing their products. Dairy farmers dumped milk, and hog farmers euthanized piglets. But sellers in more local markets have, for the most part, been insulated, they said."
Many farmers are making the switch from wholesale to retail markets, according to Raghela Scavuzzo, associate director of food systems development at the Illinois Farm Bureau. "She’s also seen an increase in farms starting online stores and community supported agriculture, where consumers can become members of a farm, similar to becoming members of a grocery store, she said. There are also more partnerships between farms through vendor boxes, which combines products from several different farms into one package," Plescia reports.
Some corn and soybean farmers, who tend to rely more on long supply chains, are not faring so well, and that's on top of the pain already felt from the trade war with China and last year's record wet weather. Krista Swanson, a corn and soybean farmer in Illinois, told Pescia that there's only one planting season for soybeans in the spring, so she wasn't able to make big changes in her farm's production to respond to the market.
Many farmers are making the switch from wholesale to retail markets, according to Raghela Scavuzzo, associate director of food systems development at the Illinois Farm Bureau. "She’s also seen an increase in farms starting online stores and community supported agriculture, where consumers can become members of a farm, similar to becoming members of a grocery store, she said. There are also more partnerships between farms through vendor boxes, which combines products from several different farms into one package," Plescia reports.
Some corn and soybean farmers, who tend to rely more on long supply chains, are not faring so well, and that's on top of the pain already felt from the trade war with China and last year's record wet weather. Krista Swanson, a corn and soybean farmer in Illinois, told Pescia that there's only one planting season for soybeans in the spring, so she wasn't able to make big changes in her farm's production to respond to the market.
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