Rural housing support is on the chopping block. Proposal would cut billions from programs rural residents use.

The proposed budget would cut many USDA housing
programs that help rural Americans. (Adobe photo)

 

President Trump's newly released federal budget proposal cuts billions from rural housing support programs. "If adopted by Congress, key Department of Agriculture rural development and housing programs would be completely eliminated," reports Joe Belden for The Daily Yonder. "Major Housing and Urban Development programs that are important in rural areas also would get zero dollars next year, and many social safety net programs would be cut."

Similar cuts were suggested and rejected during Trump's first term, but this Congress may think differently.

The new budget ends funding for the 502 loan program, which has existed since the 1950s, and has helped "2.2 million low-income rural families to become homeowners," Belden writes.

Trump's 2026 budget cuts billions in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development disbursements by ending financial support for Community Development Block Grants and the HOME program, which "were used extensively in rural areas and small cities," Belden reports. "One of the federal government’s most important and largest social safety net programs, tenant-based rental assistance, would be cut by $26.7 billion."

Other proposed cuts that could impact rural communities include the end of the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program, zero funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s discretionary grants and the elimination of the Community Services Block Grant program.

Along with cuts, the proposed budget has a silver lining, which "says that it furthers investment in rural communities by creating a new $100 million award program that would provide access to affordable financing and spur economic development in rural America," Belden explains. "This new program would require 60% of Community Development Financial Institutions’ loans and investments to go to rural areas."

Congress will decide during its budgetary process how to act on the president's budget proposal. 

PBS and NPR executives pledge to push back 'very hard' against White House efforts to end taxpayer support

PBS’s Paula Kerger

PBS and NPR leaders say they are exploring legal options to protect their services from President Trump's executive order barring them from receiving taxpayer dollars through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

PBS’s chief executive, Paula Kerger, "told CBS News’s Face the Nation that Republican-led threats to withdraw federal funding from public broadcasters had been around for decades but are 'different this time,' reports Edward Helmore of The Guardian. NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher agreed and said that both services will be "'pushing back very hard, because what’s at risk are our stations, our public television, our public radio stations across the country.'"

The White House maintains that taxpayer dollars should not support biased broadcasting. Helmore writes, "The order added: 'Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.'"

NPR’s Katherine Maher

As the battle ensues, services to many rural Americans would be the first affected. Helmore reports, "Maher said in an April interview with NPR that rural stations would see the biggest impact. 'You could see some of those stations really having to cut back services or potentially going away altogether.'" NPR radio has historically been one place rural Americans turned to for emergency alerts and safety directions.

PBS stations in rural areas could also face shortfalls and possible cuts. Helmore adds, "A fact sheet from PBS says on average federal funds make up 15% of their revenue, but a funding cut would be especially acute for smaller and rural stations."

It's uncertain how Trump's executive order will be implemented. "The CPB’s budget is already approved by Congress through 2027, and in a statement to The New York Times, CPB’s president, Patricia Harrison, said the agency was not subject to the president’s authority," Helmore reports. “'Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private non-profit corporation wholly independent of the federal government,' she said."

On the whole, the CPB spends "more money on less populated states," reports Alex Curley of Current. "We can also say that, despite a few blue-leaning outliers like the District of Columbia and Vermont, public media stations in states that voted Republican in the last Presidential election tended to get more Community Service Grants, or CSG money, per person than in states that voted Democrat."

The CPB awards money through its Community Service Grants, or CSGs.
(Graphic by Alex Curley, Current, from CPB data)

Real ID deadline is here for real. Not everyone has one, and not everyone needs one. Here's an update.

A Real ID or A passport is required to board U.S.
commercial aircraft. (Adobe Stock photo)

After years of extensions and missed deadlines, the Transportation Security Administration's Real ID requirements for U.S. domestic airport travelers and individuals looking to enter military or federal buildings went into effect this week.

"Congress passed the Real ID Act back in 2005 to beef up aviation security post-9/11," Alex Fitzpatrick of Axios reports. "But the deadline for actually requiring compliant ID cards has been repeatedly delayed."

Leading up to its May 7 start date, TSA said that 81% of people going through their checkpoints had Real IDs or another form of accepted identification, such as a passport. Gaby Del Valle of The Verge reports, U.S. citizens that don't fly or need to access TSA checkpoint buildings may opt to stick with standard state-issued ID for now.

Real ID compliance has varied by state, which is unsurprising since some states have larger numbers of residents with passports. Fitzpatrick reports, "Nearly 47% of Americans lack a valid passport as of fiscal 2024. . . . West Virginia (79.3%), Mississippi (77.9%), and Alabama (72.3%) have the greatest shares of citizens lacking a passport."

USA Today journalists headed out to various airports across the country to see how the Real ID rollout was going in real time. According to their reports, airport lines were no longer than usual and most travelers reported no delays. 

TSA Regional Spokesperson Mark J. Howell "warned traffic would pick up heading into holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July," reports USA Today. Howell told reporters, "Here in Nashville, specifically, with CMA Fest and Bonnaroo, you're going to have a lot of people coming from everywhere. So if you haven't gotten (a Real ID), now is the time to do it if you plan to travel later, because the volume from here is only going to go up.”

View TSA ID guidelines here. 

Skilled labor started recruiting from high school shop classes; high school graduates can make over $60,000

Skilled trades can offer training during high school
and a good-paying job upon graduation. (Adobe Stock photo)

Skilled labor training is helping some high schoolers land jobs with big pay before they even graduate. "Companies with shortages of skilled workers look to shop class to recruit future hires," reports Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal. "Elijah Rios won’t graduate from high school until next year, but he already has a job offer — one that pays $68,000 a year."

While the U.S. shortage of skilled labor has been building over time, baby boomer retirements have pushed trade-based companies that need a pipeline of trained professionals to "turn to creative recruiting strategies," Te-Ping explains. "More businesses are teaming up with high schools to enable students to work part-time, earning money as well as academic credit. More employers are showing up at high school career days." The renewed interest in hiring from the trades has helped revive high school shop programming.

Younger workers generally are more at ease with incorporating technology into their work, which is another reason trade recruiters are stepping up their "shop class" connections. According to the WSJ article, "Employers say that as the skilled trades become more tech-infused, they anticipate doing even more recruitment at an early age, because they need workers who are comfortable programming and running computer diagnostics."

One of the best things employers can do to "get a foot into high schools early on is by offering internships, says Roxanne Amiot, an automotive instructor at Bullard-Havens Technical School in Bridgeport, Conn.," Te-Ping writes. She told the Journal, “I tell them, don’t call me for students when they graduate, grab them now when they’re 16 or 17, or I have nobody to work for you.”

The recruitment opportunities and wages that trade professions offer signal a dramatic shift away from the "college-for-all mindset," according to the article. "[But] it’s important to make sure students are made aware of all their options, says Steve Klein, a researcher who focuses on vocational education. . . . At the same time, as interest in vocational education rises, he worries that sentiment runs the risk of swinging too much in the other direction."

Ag updates: Celebrate Beef Month; handling farm stressors; 'regenerative' farming limits; what is 'acequia' irrigation?

"Round-up scenes in Belle Fouche" by John C. H. Grabill. (Library of Congress photo via Ag Clips)

May is National Beef Month, and possibly the best time to look back at the country's short but impactful cattle drive history, which began around 1866 and ended in the 1890s. "The biggest legacy of the cattle drives exists in popular culture. The cattle drives occurred in a time when the United States was shifting from an agrarian-based society to a more industrial and urban society," reports Morning Ag Clips. "Because of this shift, the cowboys and ranch life were looked on with nostalgia as 'simpler times,' and they became a popular subject for stories and songs."

With tariffs, weather, bird flu and hi-input costs, U.S. farmers are unsurprisingly stressed. Burnout and depression can easily follow emotions run ragged by an ever-changing commodities landscape. "This sort of chronic stress complicates decision-making and other aspects of managing a farm or ranch," reports Raylene Nickel for Successful Farming. "If you recognize signs of stress and burnout, do these six things to help yourself cope or recover: Take care of your physical self, surround yourself with good people, take charge of your thoughts, build spiritual capital, find ways to reduce stress, seek help. 

In a letter to Ford President and CEO Jim Farley, a coalition of U.S. corn growers asked Farley to reconsider the company's move away from flex fuel vehicle production and to "reengage in advancing renewable fuel technologies that support rural America," reports Jesse Allen for American Ag Network. "The letter highlights the critical role American-grown ethanol plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening energy independence, and supporting local economies."

Regenerative farming may not be as
"green" as it sounds. (New Lede photo)

"Regenerative" agriculture may be healthy farming's new buzzword, but food producers and buyers should be aware of the label's limitations. "Proponents of regenerative farming say the practice can mitigate harmful climate change, reduce water pollution, and make foods more nutritious as farmers focus on improving the health of soil, water, and ecosystems," reports Carey Gillam for The New Lede. "That momentum comes with a dirty dark side, according to a new report [that] asserts regenerative programs, which generally allow for the use of weedkillers and other chemicals, are being used to 'greenwash' routine use of several dangerous pesticides on farm fields. . . .Corporations that sell such pesticides are entwined with the movement. . ."

An illustration of how acequias work.
(Drawing by Jerold Widdison via Civil Eats)

Southwestern farmers grappling with arid conditions brought on by climate change revived the ancient 'acequia' irrigation system to address water shortage problems. "Time-tested solutions like this one could hold the key to mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, especially in rural communities," reports Samuel Gilbert for Civil Eats. "In the San Luis Valley, in south-central Colorado, 130 gravity-flow ditches irrigated 30,000 acres of farmland and 10,000 acres of wetlands." Devon Peña, founder of The Acequia Institute, told Gilbert, "This is an incredibly productive, resilient, and sustainable system."

Can the U.S. thrive without China? Ag economists weigh in on the good, the bad and the uncertain.

Graph by Lindsey Pound, Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor

As the ongoing tariff rivalry continues between the U.S. and China, a question nags in the background: Can the U.S. economy, including American agribusiness, decrease its dependency on China? Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal reports, "While the risks of losing more market share into China are a concern, the upside potential of a trade deal with China could be monumental."

Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists if the U.S. could "reduce its reliance on China -- to which 83% responded -- 'Yes, it can,'" Morgan writes. The Monitor also asked if "U.S. agriculture could function without imports from China," to which "76% responded, 'yes, the U.S. can function without imports from China.'"

The steep agricultural tariffs are tough on both countries, and there are signs that "China is already hurting from the trade war and 'quietly' exempting nearly 25% of all U.S. imports from tariffs. . . . 72% of economists believe U.S. agriculture is in the middle of a recession," Morgan writes. "Sixty-one percent of ag economists think China and the U.S. will reach an agreement to revisit the Phase One trade agreement."

The Phase One agreement from the Trump administration's first term "committed China to purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. ag products over the next two years," Morgan explains. "China didn’t complete the promised purchases after Trump lost the election, but made massive corn buys in 2020, including the biggest single-day U.S. corn purchase on record in July 2020."

The U.S. has already lost ground to Brazil, which is now the world's top corn exporter. Still, some economists see trade war 2.0 as an opportunity for U.S. agribusiness to gain ground in key areas, including biofuels, cotton, livestock production for sales in Europe, and overall exports to China. 

When asked "how long it would take to restore American manufacturing, 47% responded never, 29% said 10 years and 24% said at least five years," Morgan adds. "The risks are high. Unless the U.S. invests in domestic manufacturing over an extended period, the loss from exports could be a big hit to ag commodities. But if the Trump administration can gain more trade access to key countries, the rewards could be even bigger."

Opinion: A rural hospital administrator considers what will become of his center if Congress cuts Medicaid

When a rural hospital closes, many residents drive hours to
see a provider or receive specialized care. (Adobe photo)

Over the past 15 years, rural hospitals have struggled to stay afloat, but their already precarious financial state could become a full-blown crisis should Congress slash Medicaid spending. Kevin Stansbury, the chief executive of Lincoln Health in tiny Hugo, Colorado, writes in his opinion for The New York Times, "Congress is considering cuts to Medicaid that could wreak havoc on rural America’s fragile health care system. I worry about our future."

Cuts to federal Medicaid support will be hard on most medical centers, but "rural hospitals will be particularly affected," Stansbury explains. "This is because rural patients are more likely to have health coverage from the government than from commercial insurers. (Nearly three-quarters of our revenue, for example, is from Medicaid and Medicare.)"

In Colorado, almost half of all rural hospitals operate in the red and many have closed services such as labor and delivery units because they are too expensive to run. Stansbury writes, "We also serve fewer patients than big city hospitals but still have fixed costs to stay operational. The result is that we run on minimal or negative operating margins."

When a rural hospital closes, the health of its immediate and surrounding communities suffers. If a severe auto accident happens, victims have to wait longer for emergency services to arrive, or brave traveling to the closest medical center. Residents with chronic conditions are more likely to skip regular care because they must drive hours for a checkup or specialty treatment.

"I know the financial peril my hospital will face if our Medicaid lifeline is severed. But the real damage — the kind that keeps me up at night — will be done to the hardworking people in my rural community," Stansbury adds. "I worry about the residents of our nursing home who just want to grow old here. I worry about the people in Hugo who might forgo care entirely because they can’t get the time off work to visit a Denver hospital. . . .The list goes on."

Cutting Medicaid waste and fraud is one thing "but the cuts on the table go far beyond that," Stansbury writes. "I don’t see waste in Hugo. Rather, Medicaid ensures that primary and emergency care is still accessible here, and that drivers along I-70 will see the blue H on the highway sign and know that help is nearby."

Honeybee hives are collapsing; here's how everyone can help pollinators thrive again

Unlike yellow jackets and hornets, honeybees' faces are often described as "fuzzy" or "hairy."
In general, they are more interested in flowers than stinging people. (Adobe Stock photo)

Honeybee colonies are collapsing due to a multitude of natural and human-made threats: "Parasites, loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides threaten to wipe out as much as 70% or more of the nation’s honeybee colonies this year, potentially the most devastating loss that the nation has ever seen," reports Ivan Penn of The New York Times. "Though most people fear the winged, golden insects with their fierce stingers, honeybees play a pivotal role in [crop] production." The items below offer some ideas of what farmers, gardeners and average Americans can do to help honey bees thrive once again.

Few animals are more dear to farmers and gardeners than bees. They bumble about humming in the key of C, ensuring crops grow. To help them get their work done, producers can create pollination-friendly pastures. "A buffet of native flowers and vegetables will attract bees, but they’ll also appreciate a place for shelter and nesting," reports Jodi Henke of Successful Farming. "Seventy percent of bees nest in the ground, and others burrow into twigs and old beetle tunnels. You can also provide shelter by building a bee box."

One of the most beneficial things people can do for bees is plant trees. "A tree provides much more forage than any patch of flowers ever could," reports Hilary Kearney of Keeping Backyard Bees. "Honeybees need millions of flowers to feed their colony. Individual foragers prefer to collect from a single type of flower and so, they favor plants that can provide large amounts of blooms or gardens where single varieties are planted in groupings. Now, imagine what a mature tree can offer compared to what a 10′ X 10′ pollinator garden offers. . ."

Farming includes crops and herds, but how about adding some hives? "More than 100 U.S. crops depend on assistance from pollinators. A free program is available and offers a chance to help," reports Alex Gray of Successful Farming. "The Seed a Legacy program was started to bring life back to pollinator habitats. This program enables landowners to make use out of the unproductive parts of their land, turning ditches and field corners into habitats for pollinators."

Protecting bees from chemicals is a key way to support their populations. "Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and other agrochemicals can harm bees. By minimizing their use, we help maintain healthy bee and other pollinator populations, contribute to biodiversity, balance ecosystems, and mitigate downstream impacts on wildlife and human health," The Bee Conservancy reports. For farmers who use insecticide, reading all of an application's directions and spraying in the early morning or late evening when bees are less active can help minimize bee exposure.

Enjoying bees and supporting efforts to keep their hives thriving can be as simple as purchasing honey from a local beekeeper or donating funds to apiary science research. Once local honey is in your cupboard, a plethora of sweet or savory recipes can be explored, including honey-infused foods, barbecue sauces, whipped butters, biscuits, and simple syrups for cocktails and mocktails. Honey can also be a soothing addition to apple cider, tea and hot toddies.

When humans look out for bees, it's more than looking out for our food supply, science is still exploring the uniquely beneficial properties of honey. For example, honey can be used to protect and heal minor burns. "Studies in animal models have demonstrated that honey leads to faster healing and reduced inflammation than controls in infection-free superficial burns and full-thickness wounds and in wounds experimentally infected with Staphylococcus aureus," researcher M. Subrahmanyam writes in the Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters. "Honey is cheap, non-toxic, and non-allergenic, it does not stick to the wound, and it provides a moist environment conducive to rapid burn healing."

Rural jails lack mental health resources. Inmates can linger for weeks in tiny cells awaiting psychiatric care.

Local jails weren't build to house mentally
ill populations. (KFF Health photo)

Many rural jails lack resources to manage inmates who need mental health treatment. In Polson, a small town in northwestern Montana, "when someone accused of a crime needs mental health care, chances are they’ll be locked in a basement jail cell the size of a walk-in closet," reports Katheryn Houghton of KFF Health News. Jails across the U.S. have problems similar to Polson, where demand for inmate mental health treatment exceeds any state's capacity to provide it.

Polson's basement jail cell was intended to be a short-term solution to keep mentally altered inmates away from the rest of the jail population until a psychiatric bed opened up. Houghton writes, "Last year, a man sentenced for stealing a rifle stayed in that cell 129 days. He was waiting for a spot to open at Montana’s only state-run psychiatric hospital after a mental health evaluator deemed he needed care."

Some jailed individuals haven't been found guilty of crimes because a judge ordered mental health care completed before allowing the case to move forward. At the Grays Harbor County Jail, located in the small town of Montesano, Washington, "approximately 20-30% of the jail population is made up of inmates who are supposed to be receiving [mental health] care," reports Susannah Frame of KING-TV in Seattle. The facility's medical ward is "the size of a closet. There are no mental health professionals on staff. There is not enough staff to safely deal with a crisis."

Wyoming, Nevada and Oregon jail systems have similar struggles. "More than half of Wyoming’s 23 sheriffs told lawmakers there that they were housing people in crisis awaiting mental health care for months," Houghton reports. "Nevada has struggled despite a $500 daily fine for each jailed patient whose treatment is delayed. Disability Rights Oregon has said delays in that state continue after two people died in jail while on the state’s psychiatric waitlist."

In Polson, Vincent River has been the jail's only mental health provider for 25 years. "He said he’s not always available because he’s the only psychologist in four northwestern Montana counties evaluating whether a person in jail needs psychiatric care," Houghton writes. "River said he can’t get people into any psychiatric bed in Montana because there are too few. Instead, he tries to stabilize people while they’re jailed. . . . Some are released without care if they linger too long on the state hospital’s waitlist."

With FEMA grants canceled, local governments search for new funds -- and rural communities have few options

Graph by Connie Hanzhang Jin, from FEMA data compiled by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Sewage back-ups, wildfire threats or repeated flooding in residential areas are just a few of the complicated problems rural towns planned to fix with Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, but that was before the Trump administration withdrew the support.

"Rural communities were awarded FEMA grants to fix long-standing infrastructure problems, and they expected funding to be delivered this year," report Lauren Sommer and Rebecca Hersher of NPR. "But last month, the Trump administration canceled their grants and hundreds of others, including ones that had already been promised but not yet paid out.

FEMA began the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC program, in 2020, during President Trump's first term. Since then, it has expanded to award about "$4.6 billion to communities across the U.S.," Sommer and Hersher explain. "The goal was to help local, state and tribal governments protect residents from future disasters. . . . Research shows that improving buildings and infrastructure before disasters happen can reduce the overall damage and cost when they hit."

The Trump administration said it cut BRIC to address wasteful, fraudulent spending, but rural towns that were relying on FEMA dollars don't see their grant money as unwise spending. Daniel Hoffert, village president for DePue, Illinois, which lost a grant to stop chronic flooding problems, told NPR, "I don't think they know what waste is. I don't think they know what fraud is. None of this, to me, is waste and fraud."

For many rural places, federal money is the "only source large enough to update the aging infrastructure that's vulnerable to increasingly intense disasters," Sommer and Hersher write. 

"In Kamiah, Idaho, deputy city clerk Mike Tornatore says he'd already told residents that the grant was on its way. With Kamiah having seen destructive wildfires in the past, its BRIC grant focused on fire protection," NPR reports. "He's also hoping to get a meeting with Trump about the impact of what the administration has canceled." 

Amazon aims to reach more customers with a $4 billion investment in rural services

Amazon expansion is expected to create over 100,000 jobs.
(Photo by Adobe Stock)

Amazon is investing $4 billion to expand their rural delivery services, according to the company's senior vice president of worldwide operations, Udit Madan.

The investment is meant to focus on small towns across the U.S. and bring faster delivery to “many millions of customers in less densely populated areas.” Madan wrote, “At a time where many logistics providers are backing away from serving rural customers because of cost to serve, we are stepping up our investment . . . .”

The online e-commerce website PYMNT reported that in 2024 Amazon had “leased, bought or announced plans for over 16 million square feet of new warehouse space in the U.S … adding to its existing footprint of about 413 million square feet of industrial real estate across the country.”

Madan said the expansion would mean more than 200 added delivery stations in rural areas.

Amazon said they want to support local businesses
while reaching customers in more rural areas.
(Photo by ANIRUDH, Unsplash)

“Local businesses like coffee shops and florists can deliver Amazon packages through the Hub Delivery program. Partners can make up to $27,000 in incremental income a year, and help deliver to our customers in smaller towns,” Madan wrote.

The rural investment will help the company reach new customers in 13,000 ZIP codes over a 1.2 million square mile area. The expansion will also create an estimated 100,000 or more new jobs in the company.

The declining availability of maternity healthcare puts moms and babies at risk, but there are solutions

A lack of maternity care can cause issues for mothers and babies.
(Photo by Christian Bowen, Unsplash)

A lack of access to maternity care can cause deaths, preterm births and health risks for mothers.

According to Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman in an article for Medpage Today, 2.3 million reproductive-age individuals and more than 150,000 babies are being affected annually by a lack of labor and delivery units in hospitals.

A March of Dimes report found that, “35% of U.S. counties are maternity care deserts, defined as areas with zero ob/gyns, midwives, or family medicine obstetric providers per 10,000 births,” and that about “70% of birth centers are located in just 10 states,” according to Gyamfi-Bannerman.

The article reported that there were about 50,000 ob/gyns in 2018, “with more than 94% practicing in metropolitan areas.” That number is expected to continue dropping due to “high rates of burnout, high liability burdens, and a possible decrease in interest.”

With the vast majority of ob/gyns in highly populated areas, it leaves an even bigger shortage of maternity care providers in rural areas.

Cross-training healthcare providers may be an answer.
(Photo by Bagoes Ilhamy, Unsplash)

Hospitals are also closing many of their birthing and maternity units. Gymafi-Bannerman wrote that beyond declining birth rates, there aren’t high incentives for hospitals to provide maternity services. “Maternity care has often been considered a money-losing necessity, but even moneymaking, for-profit hospitals are discontinuing obstetric services.”

There are solutions to help with this issue, but it’s a matter of implementing them.

Emily Hedegard and Kate Cough at The Maine Monitor wrote that cross-training, offering stipends, training future healthcare providers in rural areas, and paying maternity healthcare providers more may be a start. As maternity care has been considered money-losing for hospitals, some of these solutions may not be as feasible.

However, “One of the most approachable solutions to the rural health care crisis, said several experts, and one that can be implemented immediately, is making better use of providers who are already part of the community,” according to Hedegard and Cough.

U.S. food bank system is in distress: 'The urgency of this crisis cannot be overstated'

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada delivers fresh food to seniors,
including those in rural communities. (KFF Health photo)

Slapped with funding cuts and spiking demand, food banks are limping forward without a clear idea of how to fill the gaping hole federal resources used to fill. The financial cuts are especially hard on rural food banks that may lack access to food donations from multiple businesses and grocery stores.

"Food bank managers across the country say their supplies have been strained by rising demand since the Covid pandemic-era emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits ended two years ago and steepening food prices," reports Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez of KFF Health News. "Now, they say, demand is compounded by recent cuts in federal funding to food distribution programs that supply staple food items to pantries nationwide."

The deep cuts began in March when the Department of Agriculture lopped off $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which purchases food from U.S. farmers and distributes it to food banks across the country. Rodriguez writes, "The program has supplied more than 20% of the distributions by Feeding America, a nonprofit that serves a network of over 200 food banks and 60,000 meal programs."

Additional demand paired with waning resources "is especially problematic for rural communities, where the federal program might cover 50% or more of food supplied to those in need, said Vince Hall, chief government relations officer of Feeding America," Rodriguez explains. The EFAP was a lifeline for rural residents facing food insecurity, but that safety net is gone. Hall told Rodriguez, “The urgency of this crisis cannot be overstated."

Local food banks are also grappling with a second $500 million cut from the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which aimed to help governments and schools purchase fresh food and produce from local growers.

Reductions to SNAP benefits, such as those currently being considered by lawmakers, could mean some Americans will go hungry. "A proposed budget resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April would require $1.7 trillion in net funding cuts, and anti-hunger advocates fear SNAP could be a target," Rodriguez reports. "More people living in rural parts of the country rely on SNAP than people in urban areas because of higher poverty rates, so they would be disproportionately affected."

Opinion: Rural Americans already face food insecurity. Will Republican lawmakers leave them even hungrier?

Most Americans don't consider hunger a political
issue. (Adobe Stock photo)

Many rural residents already face the daily struggle of not having enough food. Republican lawmakers eager to cut SNAP benefits may be about to make their battle with hunger worse. "These are anything but good times in rural America, which has been hit by everything from tariffs to extreme weather to bird flu and immigration crackdowns," writes José Andrés in his opinion for The Washington Post. "On top of those crises, Congress is now adding another — threatening to cut federal food benefits as the Republican leadership plays politics with the budget."

Despite rural America being where the country's agricultural powerhouses are, rural residents are more likely to suffer from food insecurity and poverty. "The government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — once known as food stamps — is a lifeline for entire rural economies," Andrés explains. "Poverty rates are actually higher outside cities than in them. So it should be no surprise to learn that families in rural counties use SNAP more."

The desire to cut SNAP by Republican lawmakers representing rural regions seems like a particularly harmful mismatch. "In some of the reddest states in the country, where Donald Trump won by 20 points or more in 2024, SNAP benefits are about as widely used as they are in states such as California and New York," Andrés writes. "In Louisiana, where House Speaker Mike Johnson is from, it’s even higher: 1 in 5 count on SNAP to meet their basic food needs."

Congress has planned cuts anyway. "Under the House budget plan, SNAP is facing $230 billion in cuts over 10 years: a massive 20 percent reduction," Andrés explains. "More than two-thirds of SNAP recipients are either children, elderly or disabled. Three-fourths live below the poverty line. For a family of three, that means earning less than $26,650 a year."

Addressing hunger isn't a political issue for most Americans. "Support for hunger and nutrition programs is broad and deep, stretching from evangelical groups to progressive nonprofits," Andrés adds. "Doing good can be good politics. One of the reasons the government exists is to take care of our forgotten neighbors who need a helping hand. If 'America First' means anything, it surely means taking care of the forgotten Americans in so-called flyover country."

Zaytinya photo

José Andrés is a chef, restaurateur and
founder of the nonprofit organization
World Central Kitchen.
Read his full opinion here.

Ohio could end tainted public subsides for failed coal plants, but lawmakers add a catch to their new energy plans

The bailed-out coal plants were built in the 1950s.
(Adobe Stock photo)

The Ohio legislature finally overhauled subsidies for two failing coal mines that have cost state taxpayers $400,000 per day since 2019. The hefty charges originated in the state's infamous House Bill 6 energy bill that grew into the "largest corruption scandal in state history," reports Julie Carr Smyth of The Associated Press.

House Bill 15 would rid Ohio consumers of the "legacy generation rider” contained in House Bill 6 for the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. "The Ohio Senate passed its version of the legislation in a rare unanimous vote Wednesday, before sending it back to the Ohio House," Smyth explains. "The bill goes next to Gov. Mike DeWine, whose office said he is reviewing the amended measure."

Beyond ending expensive subsidies, the bill "requires utilities to routinely come in for rate cases and justify how they spend ratepayer-collected money," Smyth reports. It contains a loan program to lower energy costs for public schools and ensures consumers are refunded for incorrect charges.

The subsides' corruption history is one that current Ohio lawmakers have sought to decry and erase. State Rep. Casey Weinstein's commented on the scandal saying: "It was an outrageous misuse of public funds — sending hundreds of thousands of dollars a day to an aging coal plant in Indiana. Putting an end to that is a victory for ratepayers across the state."

Even as lawmakers cheer their success, the state's new energy bills are being met with mixed responses. Cathy Cowan Becker writes in her opinion for the Ohio Capital Journal, "Ohio could finally see the end to some of the worst aspects of 2019’s House Bill 6 — which David Roberts of Vox called 'the worst energy bill of the 21st century.'"

As Becker writes, "That is great news — but it [could] come at a high cost. Instead of bailing out coal and nuclear plants, Ohioans could find themselves living next to large gas plants, pushed through a fast-track approval process without local approval, supplied with gas from fracking our parks."

In rural Maine, farmers worry migrant workers will be too afraid to show up for work and crops will rot in the fields

Blueberries burst forth during Maine's early summer,
but they need to be harvested quickly. (Adobe Stock photo)

As the Trump administration steps up its immigration and deportation efforts, Maine farmers who rely on immigrant labor to harvest seasonal crops such as wild blueberries are concerned about labor shortages. Some farmers worry that no matter how legal their past immigrant employees may be, fears about deportation will keep them from "showing up to rake [blueberry] fields — out in plain sight," reports Joyce Kryszak of The Maine Monitor. Without immigrant workers, Maine farmers say they can't bring in all their fields within the short window to harvest before crops begin to rot.

Harry Ricker and his wife, Nancy, own Ricker Hill Orchards in the small town of Turner, Maine. Each year the couple pays to participate in the H-2A visa program to employ "dozens of hard-working apple pickers each harvest season, mostly from Jamaica," Kryszak writes. They don't think they can hire enough non-immigrants to complete their apple harvest. Harry Ricker told Kryszak, "There are a lot less local people that want to do it, so we have to have [the H-2A] program. Without it, we’ll just be out of the industry. We go away.”

Meanwhile, state officials are working to help Maine businesses stay on top of visa program requirements and changes. "Patrick Woodcock, the executive director of the Maine Chamber of Commerce, told Kryszak, "Regardless of the merits of the polic[ies], we really do want to ensure that employers understand how to be in compliance. There may be employees that were authorized to work that may be affected by changes and may not be authorized to work now or in the coming months.”

Local apple and blueberry farmers aren't the only ones worried. "Agricultural farmers of all types . . . and fisheries. . . have come to rely on the largely Latino migrant and year-round immigrant communities," Kryszak reports. "A 2015 Maine Department of Labor . . . survey, the most recent report available from the Department, found that 56% of migrant farm workers were from Mexico, with others from Haiti, Canada, Honduras, El Salvador, and the Philippines."

Quick hits: Hop on a historic train; new farming trilogy; free immigration resources for journalists; Big Foot sightings

Cumbres & Toltec Railroad riders enjoy being 'lifted'
137 feet high on the High Cascade Creek Trestle.

As summertime vacation beckons, consider boarding a historical train and chugging through parts of North America you've never explored. "Railroads revolutionized transportation in North America, permanently accelerating the pace of travel across the continent," reports Michael Harmon of The New York Times. "Today, many of those railroad tracks host an assortment of historic excursion trains, inviting riders to slow down and enjoy a grand day out." The Skunk Train, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, and The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad are all spectacular picks.

When young people leave home, they often see life through the lens of their upbringing. For author Jane Brox, that lens is generations of family farming in Dracut, Mass. Brox added a third book to complete her trilogy, In the Merrimack Valley, which celebrates early immigrant dreams, farm routines that enrich daily life, and all that is gained and lost when young adults set out into the world. Danny Heitman for The Wall Street Journal writes, “Brox created a multipart work that is more broadly about the nature of origins — what we might owe to the places where we started. Even and, perhaps, especially when we leave them."

Reversing a previous decision, the Trump administration "temporarily reinstated dozens of fired federal workers who help screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust," reports Maxine Joselow of The Washington Post. "The screening program offers contracts to radiologists across the country who are certified to evaluate X-rays for black lung. It also employs epidemiologists who recently concluded that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia has black lung — the highest level recorded in 25 years."

The Immigration Reporting Legal Guide is a free resource developed by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to help journalists navigate coverage of the complex web of federal and state entities that make up the American immigration system. The guide divides the topic into three parts: Immigration-related public records, how to access immigration proceedings and and details about journalists' rights to observe and record immigration enforcement officers on the ground. The guide is available in English and Spanish. There's also an extensive collection of free legal resources.

Spring and summer can be glorious times for hiking, fishing and taking nature walks. But sometimes, uninvited buzzing guests such as wasps and yellow jackets come along on warmer-weather adventures and sting humans -- often for unexplained reasons. And while no anti-sting plan is foolproof, Ashley Leath of Country Living has a few suggestions.

• Don't swat at wasps. Swatting tells a wasp to release pheromones that will trigger other nearby wasps to see you as a threat, exactly what you don’t want to happen.
• To prevent wasp nest building, try putting up a fake wasp nest. Wasps are territorial and don't like waspy neighbors.
• Don't remove a large yellow jacket nest on your own. They can sting more than once. Call a professional.
• To remove a smaller yellow jacket nest, read here.

Mysterious, massive and yet strangely elusive, Big Foot remains a North American legend with hundreds of sightings by locals, tourists and scouts paired with an equal number of people who are outspokenly skeptical Sasquatch exists. Beyond the argument, a separate exploration has formed which asks why some people want to believe that strange and unlikely creatures lurk just out of plain site. Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder writes, "I’m more interested in exploring why mysterious wildlife inspires obsession and fanaticism, and what it says about the American environmental psyche."

     
         Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization data

Interested in rural reporting? Attend the live, virtual launch of the Rural Reporter's Notebook podcast and learn more.

For people curious about rural reporting or want to know more about how other news sources approach it, the Rural Journalism Collective is launching the Rural Reporter's Notebook podcast on Wednesday, May 14 at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time) with a live recording that includes a Q&A session with podcast hosts Claire Carlson and Julia Tilton from The Daily Yonder.

Anyone interested can attend this live, virtual event. Register here.

The podcast on May 14 will highlight how Carlson and Tilton interview their featured guest. The two will explain their processes during and after the interview. Then Caroline Carlson, senior digital editor of the Daily Yonder, will join the show and share details about launching and stewarding this bi-weekly podcast. The Q&A will follow.

The bi-weekly podcast will feature Claire Carlson and Tipton discussing news stories big and small and what they mean for rural communities. 

With little notice and no public debate, lawmakers closed a rural school district with a property tax reform bill

Rep. J.D. Prescott defends his reasons for closing USC
 at a public meeting. (Photo by Eric Weddle, NPR)

School officials and parents were shocked to learn Indiana lawmakers quietly closed their rural school district without public debate. "Tucked into a sweeping property tax reform bill with little public notice, the closing of Union School Corporation came as a surprise to nearly everyone except the lawmaker who wrote it — Rep. J.D. Prescott, a Republican from Union City, Ind.," reports Rachel Fradette of NPR, Indianapolis.

Located in tiny Modoc, Indiana, Union School Corporation educates roughly 7,500 students through its virtual programs, with around 290 students attending class in person. Fradette writes, "Under Indiana’s new property tax reform law, it will be dissolved in 2027 and the area (redistricted) among other school corporations."

At a town meeting just days after the bill passed, residents questioned Prescott about the lack of notice. Prescott told them, "The legal process was followed." Fradette reports, "Prescott told the crowd a combination of factors led him to write the legislation: prior years of discussion about district consolidation; more than half of families who live in the Union boundaries choosing to enroll their children in other districts; and poor academic performance at the virtual schools."

The closure, which was wrapped into Senate Enrolled Act 1, has been signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. And while this isn't the first time Indiana lawmakers have stepped in to help struggling schools, those instances included public notice and debate. Chris Lagoni, executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association, "said this is the first time in 50 years a school district has been closed by state mandate," Fradette writes. "District leaders now wonder if the state is applying new academic expectations to justify future closures."

Some school officials believe the district's wealth and number of virtual learners may have pegged it for closure. Superintendent of Union Schools Galen Mast "believes Union was targeted in legislation because their virtual schools attract students from other districts and charter schools," Fradette explains. "In Indiana, state funding follows the student. So if a student leaves. . . there is less funding for the home district to cover academic programs and teacher pay."

Union school officials and supporters plan to legally challenge the closure. Mast told Fradette, “We've been here for 70 years. Our intent is to be here for another 70 years.”

Rural living gets trendy: It's cheaper, roomier, has great views, and residents can grow their own food

View of Twin Falls in rural Idaho.
(Photo by J. Adkins via Livability)

More and more people are leaving city life to embrace a cheaper and more sustainable option -- rural living.

Being in the heart of the city and in close proximity to anything you could want doesn’t often measure up to a through-the-roof cost-of-living and lack of space.

Brittany Anas wrote for Livability that, “Inflation has prompted many others to rethink their living situations and consider joining the big city exodus. A survey by Ipsos found that 42% of people have either moved or thought about moving since March 2020, and rural areas, small and mid-size cities were their top choices.”

One person who made the move is Wyneta Chambers. In an interview with Roslyn Anderson at WLBT, Chambers said she moved away from the city to grow her own food and live more sustainably, even convincing friends to “embrace country living.”

“The benefits of you growing your own stuff is you know what you put in it,” Chambers told Anderson. “The tariffs will not affect you if you are already growing your own stuff. You don’t have to worry about what’s coming [from] overseas.”

According to Anderson, rural life offers a lot of benefits: it’s more affordable; there's more space; neighbors are more friendly and involved with each other; there are fewer traffic jams (unless you count driving behind a tractor down a one-lane road); and better job markets. It also can be beneficial when going back to school.

In her interview Chambers said, “This was the best move a lot of us have made, and we wouldn't change anything.”