When a business closes in a rural community, the following 24 months or so are key. Whether it be a farm, small town grocery or repair shop, if the real estate it occupied is still lacking a day-to-day human presence a year or two down the road, it sends a troubling message about the future… Read more »
Posts Tagged: rural communities
Putting Out the Welcome Mat for New Agrarians
There are numerous ways of communicating the value society places on having more family farmers on the land, not fewer. This morning, the USDA announced it was awarding $18 million in grants to groups that are helping beginning farmers nationwide. That sends an important message that the federal government, thanks to initiatives put in the… Read more »
Reaching Out in Hog Country
Independent hog farmers are beginning to feel like inhabitants of isolated desert islands, with oceans of corporate-controlled CAFOs (as well as corn and soybean fields) separating them from their peers. That became clear at an LSP workshop on raising pork for niche markets held in Redwood Falls earlier this winter. “I think we’re one of… Read more »