When commercial providers failed to bring broadband infrastructure to their community, the people of Wilson, North Carolina, built it themselves. Soon they’ll open a rural innovation hub where entrepreneurs, remote workers, and people learning tech skills will leverage that fiber connectivity as part of Wilson’s growing presence in the digital economy. Independence, Oregon, population 9,250, uses its municipal fiber and farming expertise to pilot cutting-edge agricultural solutions in partnership with tech companies, including Intel. [node:read-more:link]

Legislators got a glimpse Friday of a state estimate showing the Republican version of a bill to continue Medicaid expansion with added work requirements would result in about half the 96,000 people on the program losing coverage.A Medicaid expansion bill must move to the state Senate by April 1 to meet transmittal deadlines.Montana expanded Medicaid to those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level four years ago and put in a sunset of this summer so lawmakers would come back and review the program.  In April, the 2019 federal poverty level will be $17,236 for an individual a [node:read-more:link]

The problem of housing affordability, long a concern in popular big cities, has moved to rural America. [node:read-more:link]

Americans have a couple of ways they tend to think about rural America. On one side of the coin, we see it as a post-apocalyptic wasteland of dysfunction, intolerance, and economic ruin.On the other, we see a pastoral cornucopia of small-town charm, neighbor helping neighbor, and home-grown tomatoes.In other words, it’s all bad or all good.Last week the New York Times published columns by Paul Krugman and David Brooks that fit these all-or-nothing patterns to a T. [node:read-more:link]

Federal inspectors will soon venture onto Oregon farms to ensure compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act for the first time since it became law in 2011. This spring, FDA inspectors are beginning routine on-farm inspections of large operations — those earning more than $500,000 in annual revenue — that grow produce meant to be consumed raw. The agency’s goal is to “educate before and while we regulate” during this initial round of inspections, though officials would take action to stop an imminent threat to public health, said Kate Allen, an FDA investigator. [node:read-more:link]

NAFTA has been a boon for states like Texas, California and Arizona, where tens of thousands of jobs are directly linked to selling, distributing, warehousing, and transporting Mexican produce throughout the country. [node:read-more:link]

MillerCoors is suing Anheuser-Busch InBev for its controversial Bud Light Super Bowl ad. The lawsuit is the latest retaliation from MillerCoors for the ad that shamed Miller Lite and Coors Light for using corn syrup during its brewing process.MillerCoors is seeking an immediate halt to the campaign, which it claims is false advertising. [node:read-more:link]

In mid-2018, Walmart, the Arkansas retailing giant, began bottling milk in a newly-built facility near Fort Wayne, Indiana, for its 500 stores in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. In doing so, this newcomer shoved an industry veteran, Dean Foods, its former bottler, out the door and with Dean went 100 or so dairy farmers in surrounding states who sold milk to it. [node:read-more:link]

After months of denials and vague language, EPA has confirmed it is considering limiting the ability of states to restrict pesticide use beyond the federal label. State regulators are expressing alarm at this development, particularly those dealing with widespread dicamba injury, which appears to be the catalyst for EPA's announcement.At issue is Section 24(c) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which allows states to grant "special local needs" (SLN) labels that supplement federal pesticide labels. [node:read-more:link]

The USDA announced Friday that China is making a significant purchase of U.S. corn after years of deteriorating trade, spurring hope that the trade talks between the two countries are producing real progress that could have lasting effects. The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service announced Friday morning an export sale of 300,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to China and U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Sleight says he hopes it’s a sign that the two countries are working out their biotech regulatory concerns. [node:read-more:link]