Category: Blog

By Julie Tesch, CEO and President As we enter the autumn season, I am happy to announce that the Center for Rural Policy & Development recently elected new officers to their board.  The officers of CRPD play a vital role in helping set the direction of the organization while also supporting our non-partisan research. Our ...

By Whitney Oachs, Research Intern As discussed in our recent 2020 State of Rural Report, most farmers were barely getting by before the onslaught of COVID-19. While agricultural land values have remained at historic highs, low commodity prices and increased costs of production have resulted in negative net income, contributing to declining mental health for ...

This is the time of year that I am usually enjoying some county fair food while looking at 4-H exhibits at local county fairs.  Obviously, this year that is not happening because of the pandemic.  I have been able to track down some fair food, but I’m really missing the sense of community that a ...

Our thanks go out to Tim Penny, president of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and former First District Congressman, for his opinion piece in last Sunday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune featuring our work on cost of living and how your dollar can go further in Greater Minnesota. The study itself is getting a lot of traction ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research Since the middle of March, that old Irish blessing/curse has been bouncing around in my head:  “May you live in interesting times.” I really, truly understand its full meaning now. The first half of 2020 has been interesting, to say the least. Never would I have guessed back in ...

by Whitney Oachs, Research Intern Following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, communities across the nation held protests in support of people of color and structural change for policing. But while the unrest in the Twin Cities rightly dominated headlines, communities in even the most rural corners of the state also saw ...

When taking population into account, the rate of COVID-19 cases is just as high, if not higher, in counties outside of the seven-county metro. By Kelly Asche May, 2020 Counties outside of the seven-county metro have some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in the state. But this so far hasn’t translated into a similarly ...

By Kelly Asche To watch a webinar presenting this research and a Q&A with healthcare experts, click here. A citizen protest reveals the need for a policy change Before the COVID-19 crisis began, the Center for Rural Policy and Development was gathering information and analyzing the impacts mergers and acquisitions among health care providers have ...

MN Department of Ag is offering a cost-share program to help eligible farmers markets keep things safe and sanitized School sports are canceled and it doesn’t look good for professional sports, concerts or other summer fun. Even the Great Minnesota Get-Together is at risk of being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. What’s left? Well, ...