Rural
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Guest post: Elon Musk’s chainsaw comes for the farm
I am incredibly concerned about what has been going on at President Donald Trump’s USDA in the last few weeks—in particular Elon Musk’s chainsaw approach to government agencies.
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Guest post: Stand against pipeline to protect Iowa’s natural resources
Iowa towns, farmland, and natural resources shouldn’t be a playground for corporate power.
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Guest post: Forget Project 2025. We need a better Farm Bill
When it comes to farm policy in 2025, we don’t need Project 2025. We need a new Farm Bill that acknowledges the challenges we face, tackles them head on, and puts our rural communities before corporate profits. Reading about the recent round of layoffs at John Deere’s Ottumwa plant got me thinking about the future…
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Guest post: Iowa needs to stop ignoring our clean water crisis
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources needs to come clean about our dirty water.
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Guest post: Iowa electeds siding with corporate interests on new Farm Bill
By siding repeatedly with corporate agribusiness on the Farm Bill reauthorization and not sticking up for family farmers, Iowa’s congressional representatives have let us down.
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Coalition proposes radical solution to food insecurity: Iowa farmers
The Iowa Food System Coalition wants to work with Iowa farmers to convince more of them to switch from commodity farming in an effort to boost farm-to-table food offerings. Food insecurity in Iowa has reached staggering numbers, and one organization is asking: What if the call is coming from inside the house? Iowa, a state…
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Kalbach: The House’s draft Farm Bill is a gift for corporate ag
Farm Bill draft neglects families and independent farmers After months of delay, the Farm Bill is finally moving in Congress. The House Agriculture Committee passed its draft of the 2024 Farm Bill on May 23, the first step in a process that will include a Senate draft followed by floor debates later this year. Buckle…
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Greenfield tornado: How to volunteer, donate, help with recovery
Officials are still limiting who can go into town, but there are still ways you can help with Greenfield tornado recovery. Donations, volunteer efforts, and offers to help in any way possible have swamped the southwest Iowa town of Greenfield in Adair County since it took a hit from a tornado on Tuesday, May 21,…
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AEAs cutting workers in wake of Republican legislation
Iowa legislators said a new bill cutting money for agencies that help students with disabilities wouldn’t affect services. But area education agencies (AEAs) across the state are now beginning to cut their budgets, and staff, because of it. “This is a day of grieving,” one staffer at the Green Hills AEA wrote on Facebook last…
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Casey’s staff shelters students fleeing Perry school shooting
A Casey’s General Store in Perry became a place of refuge for several students Thursday morning after a gunman opened fire at nearby Perry High School. Store Manager Jocelyn Kirchner said she received a call at 7:30 a.m. about what was transpiring at the high school. Several students had fled from the facility and went…
