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This Rural Political Strategist Says Democrats Need to Learn from Winners
“The Democrats are stuck on this consultant-driven, top-down approach to campaigns that is not working.”
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Why Democrats Lost in Rural America. Again.
A message from rural America to Democratic Party elites
When the CAFO Industry Comes for Your County
“Dodge County, Inc.” exposes the brutal costs of Big Ag
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Opinion
The Right Wants to Divide Rural People and the Working Class. Here’s How We Unite.
The director of the Appalachia People’s Union on why the South is ready to stand up to Trump
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As Goes the Black Belt, So Goes Georgia
As chair of the Bryan County Democrats, Keith McCants says that to win statewide, Democrats need to go outside of Atlanta
Religion
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How Christian Nationalists Use Transphobia to Get Votes
A rural Wisconsin pastor explains why God’s compassion has no room for hate
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The Christian Right’s Playbook to Elect Donald Trump in November
And how voters can use the tools of democracy to counter their plans
Politics & Policy
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Rural America in the 2024 Election: Key Races and Ballot Measures
Here are the results of battleground races and important ballot measures that affect rural Americans
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The Grassroots Electoral Movement Reshaping Rural Politics
In many rural areas, races go uncontested. That’s changing in 2024 thanks to grassroots efforts to contest every election
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Private Equity Is Gunning for Wisconsin’s County-Owned Nursing Homes
Rural citizens are banding together to ensure everyone has access to care
Special Reports
New
Charting a Path of Rural Progress
Interviews with the organizers who created a rural policy platform for 2024
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Rural Communities Respond to the Long-Term Care Crisis
Rural communities come together to respond to the crisis in long-term care
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Interviews with Rural Organizers
Meet the rural organizers and changemakers working for change and justice
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Rural Libraries
Rural libraries, under threat, are finding renewed purpose
More →Native Life
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Young Voters Are Getting Tribal Citizens to the Polls
Native Americans in swing states could help decide the 2024 election. Can they overcome barriers to vote?
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Montana Tribal Citizens File Lawsuit Over Alleged Voter Suppression
Does GOP control of the U.S. Senate hinge on stopping Natives from voting in November?
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Water Protectors Use Novel Legal Tactic to Challenge the Dakota Access Pipeline
Novel anti-SLAPP laws could help uncover Dakota Access Pipeline secrets
Science & Environment
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Project 2025 and Its Plans for the Nation’s Public Lands
Native leader says massive deregulation would lead to “total desecration”
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Signs of a Ceasefire in Michigan’s Energy Wars
Rural comunities have been fighting for nearly two decades over large-scale solar and wind farms. A new law might turn down the temperature as the state seeks to reduce carbon emissions from generating electricity.
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What’s Fueling Michigan’s Green Energy Backlash?
A renewable energy push is bringing millions of dollars to Michigan’s rural communities. But not everyone is pleased.
Barn Raisers
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Can ‘Good Neighbor’ Politics Win in Rural America?
Virginia’s Rural GroundGame sees year-round organizing as they key for longterm success and defeating Project 2025
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Wendell Berry: What New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman Gets Wrong About Rural America
‘Those of us who speak for the country (“rural America”) must never give up’
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Welcome to Barn Raiser: Your independent source for rural and small town news
A letter from the editors
Letters to the editor
Readers Respond to Wendell Berry
Read →Arts & Culture
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Farm to Table Goes International in Rural New York
Korean lunch, Albanian dinner and Iranian wine—in the Catskills?
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Country Queers Spread the Love in Rural America
Rae Garringer’s new book documents more than a decade of LGBTQ+ rural life
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A Supper Club State of Mind
Wisconsin has more supper clubs than any other state. But how long will this iconic institution survive?
Food & Agriculture
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A Second Trump Administration Threatens Longstanding USDA Conservation and Insurance Programs
Family farmers fear the Conservation Reserve Program, a steady source of income, could be eliminated
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Animal Agriculture Conference Asks: What’s the Future of Our Food System?
Iowa’s environmental crisis has policy leaders and farmers challenging corporate agriculture
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The Farm Bill Must Support Farmers Affected by PFAS Contaminated Sewage Sludge
Maine stepped up to protect its farmers. It’s time for Congress to protect farmers nationwide.
Rep. Bill Pluecker
History
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Jim Hightower Confronts the 1980s Farm Crisis
"It's the same old story—Reagan helps the rich, and Lord help the rest of us."