The Yonder Report

The House Ag Committee has passed their version of the next five-year farm bill, but congressional leaders are less than hopeful the bill will get across the finish line before a new fall deadline. South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson, one of the six main authors of the House version, says the bill includes several things […]

Some small towns in North Dakota worry they’ll go to pot if marijuana is legalized; school vouchers are becoming a litmus test for Republicans; and Bennington, Vermont implements an innovative substance abuse recovery program.

The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the “public” back in public lands.

The last couple of years have seen outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the spring and fall as temperatures change. However, this year has seen an unusual outbreak of the virus among dairy cattle. Bernt Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, provides an update. “We’ve seen some positive cases pop up […]

Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline; Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking; and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Housing advocates fear rural low-income folks who live in aging USDA housing could be forced out; small towns are eligible for grants to enhance civic participation; and North Carolina’s small and Black-owned farms are helped by new wind and solar revenues.

Rural populations have bounced back for two years running; more jobs are causing growing pains in Montana; Colorado wants school kids to eat better and boost rural ag communities; and Saint George, South Carolina is “Puttin’ on the Grits.”

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans; a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life; and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Hard cash for small farmers and ranchers should result from a labeling change on meat and poultry products; pandemic-related rural job loss bounced back, but progress has stalled; and rural housing is scarce for younger generations as older homeowners stay put.

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production; Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals; and California’s extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it’s time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.