Markets are closed today, of course, for the Juneteenth holiday, giving us an opportunity to share a poem I wrote many years ago honoring my dad, but all dads in rural America. This is the bottom-line report. He could fix a tractor when it wouldn’t run, work past dark till the chores were done. He’d wipe his sweat and dust …
Rural Population Growing Again
The decline in the nation’s rural population first began in 2010, before reaching its lowest level in 2011-2012. Rural areas lost nearly 62,000 residents that year, alone. However, since then it’s begun to reverse. The Economic Research Service at the USDA made that announcement in its annual report titled “Rural America at a Glance.” As recently as 2016-2017, the ERS …
USDA Highlights $40 Million in Infrastructure Investments in Rural Communities
Funding Helps Improve Streets, Transit Facilities and Other Structures to Spur Economic Growth and Create Jobs Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue highlighted U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investments in Fiscal Year 2017 that will help construct or improve infrastructure and boost economic growth in rural communities. “USDA is focused on improving rural America’s infrastructure,” Perdue said. “Investments such as the ones …

