Rural Issues

While snow accumulations were less than expected in St. Louis, rural areas to the southwest saw more snow and power outages.

The report paints a grim picture of accelerating consolidation over the past three decades. Yet some communities and local grocery stores are finding ways to thrive.

A new report from the USDA shows that rural areas are continuing to see growth among people over 65 while the working-age population continues to decline.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture allocated $40 million in loans and grants to telecommunications companies to build high-speed internet networks in rural parts of Illinois and Missouri.

The decreasing number of farmers, improvements in technology and alternatives implemented during the pandemic are leading some to predict the end of the in-person gatherings focused on farm life.

The federal government is offering grant money to help address the problem, but small towns fear they lack the tech knowhow and resources to defend their systems and are daunted by grant applications.

Small towns far from big cities rely upon federal grants to help them, but numerous definitions of what the government considers rural make that complicated.

New data from the USDA shows rural areas are losing their grocery, specialty food and convenience stores and gaining some dollar stores and superstores.

The high-tech innovation group BioSTL has opened a center to focus on bringing new technologies to the region to expand quality care to remote areas.

A new report from the USDA shows benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, have a bigger impact on rural economies.