Politics & Policy

Six Reasons Why the House Budget Bill Will Hurt Rural America

Republicans in Congress are jamming through a sweeping bill to fund handouts to the rich

Beyond the Ivy League, International Students at Rural Colleges Are Being Detained by ICE

Students, teachers and staff work “day and night” to protect the rights of international students, often the lifeblood of rural college towns

I Taught My Students Slavery Was Wrong. Then MAGA Came After Me

An Iowa teacher looks back on a lost job and at the current movement to defend rural schools

Trump Deportations Have Dairy Farmers on Edge

“It’s just a job that the domestic workforce hasn’t sought out for decades”

Why I Joined Maine’s Farmer Day of Action and Tractor Brigade

A Maine farmer reports from the front lines of the new American agriculture movement

Why the Greenpeace Trial Is a Lesson for Us All

Criminalizing the protection of water, not its degradation, is a sign of things to come—but Water Protectors are here to stay

The Problem With J.D. Vance’s Augustine

Vance’s misguided interpretation of Christian love is an attempt to justify the jingoistic policies of “America First”
Zachary Taylor, Sightings

Public Schools Build Connections in Rural Communities. Vouchers Tear Them Down.

Here is what you can do to stand up for rural public schools before it’s too late
Keep an Independent Mind

Sign up to receive twice-weekly Barn Raiser updates on original, independent reporting from rural and small town America.

mail

From Inside the Farm Bill

Inside the Farm Bill

Can Democrats Stop the GOP From Taking a Chainsaw to the Farm Bill?

Republicans are gearing up to cut SNAP programs and increase payments to the largest farmers

Read column
Politics
April 3, 2025

‘Clean Water,’ ‘Equity,’ ‘Microplastics’ and Other Words Banned in Leaked USDA Memo

Agricultural Research Service sent out a list of 110 terms that can no longer be used

Politics
March 31, 2025

How Democrats Can Win By Organizing from the County Up

In her new role as a party leader, Jane Kleeb is organizing Democrats to go on the offensive

Environment
March 26, 2025

Farmers in Trump Country Were Counting on Clean Energy Grants. Then the Government Changed the Rules.

Thousands of farmers and small rural businesses now in limbo as USDA demands grant rewrites that favor fossil fuels over renewables

Ames Alexander & Mario Alejandro Ariza, Floodlight; Joe Engleman, Barn Raiser

More in Politics & Policy