Months of persistent drought in 2012, a cold, wet spring in 2013 and a reduction in habitat have impacted pheasant brood counts, according to a report released last week by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department.
After raising the issue of the relevancy of rural places to the national political conversation last December, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took a step beyond that Tuesday as he addressed the National Rural Assembly: Why aren’t rural advocates outraged when rural places are dismissed as irrelevant?
High crop prices are inducing farmers to look at all the land under their management—even the corners that they never thought worthwhile before—for another spot to plant corn or soybeans. Crop insurance subsidies take the risk out of planting in poor ground.