By DTN Staff

Drive through any small town in rural America, and you'll likely find a familiar story: a shuttered clinic, a consolidated school, a Main Street holding on by its fingernails -- and a community that refuses to quit. In our special series "Rural Resilience," DTN/Progressive Farmer looks beyond the fencerows and into these communities that farmers and ranchers both rely on and help sustain.

The challenges facing rural America are undeniable: aging populations, workforce shortages, policy uncertainty and infrastructure gaps. But so is the capacity to respond -- to collaborate across county lines, innovate with limited resources and welcome new people and ideas while preserving local identity. Rural resilience doesn't mean resisting change. It means harnessing it. Resilience, after all, is not about bouncing back to what was -- but about building what comes next.

On this page, you will find links to stories that originally appeared in the special April 2026 issue of Progressive Farmer magazine, "Rural Resilience," as well as links to DTN's latest coverage of issues affecting rural America.

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"RURAL RESILIENCE" SPECIAL PACKAGE

For stories, blogs and bonus content related to Progressive Farmer magazine's "Rural Resilience" special coverage, see:

-- Editors' Notebook: "Rural Resilience: How Small Towns Are Surviving -- and Thriving -- Against the Odds," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

DTN/Progressive Farmer examines the challenges facing rural America and the solutions some communities are embracing to succeed, in a series titled "Rural Resilience."

-- "As Farm Belt Tightens, Rural Main Street Economies Adjust," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

As the general ag economy faces adversity, small towns across the country are working to weather the storm.

-- "Rural America's Population Decline Is Reversing," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

COVID-19, remote work and demographic shifts ended decades of population decline in rural America.

-- "Rural Health Care Is on Life Support. Can It Be Resuscitated?" https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Sixty million rural Americans face worsening healthcare access as Medicaid cuts threaten hundreds of already-struggling hospitals with closure, compounding decades of funding shortfalls, staffing shortages and geographic isolation.

-- "How Some Rural Hospitals Write Their Own Prescription for Survival," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Facing tight margins and staff shortages, some rural hospitals are determined to write their own survival stories.

-- Family Business Matters: "Build Staying Power Into Your Family Farm, Ranch or Rural Business," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Family farms and ranches face substantial risks. Building resilience requires valuing family bonds over business preservation, exploring all options openly, reframing difficulties positively and maintaining realistic optimism while confronting harsh realities.

-- "Rural Schools Fight to Keep Quality Education Alive," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Rural schools face declining enrollment, funding gaps and teacher shortages. But instead of buckling under the pressure, rural educators are rising to the occasion, meeting systemic challenges with innovative solutions.

-- "Rural Broadband Has Come Far, but Gaps Remain," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Federal investment has brought high-speed internet to more parts of rural America since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the digital divide persists.

-- "Young Entrepreneur Invests in Her Small Kansas Hometown," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Ellie Bowman, a sixth-generation Kansas farm girl, turned a small-town lumberyard into Prickly Pear Farm and Home -- a thriving rural one-stop shop -- by listening to customers and filling community needs.

-- "These Farm Kids Balance Off-Farm Ag Jobs to Help Sustain Family's 150-Year-Old Rural Legacy," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Kassidy and Klayton Bremer, sixth-generation Iowa farm kids, returned to production agriculture careers at a large-scale hog operation and a cow-calf ranch while maintaining outside income to sustain their 150-year-old family farm.

-- "How One Iowa Woman Hopes To Help Revive Rural America's Small Towns," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Danna Larson left Iowa farm life for a PR career, then returned with a mission: to help small towns reimagine their potential through her Rural Revival podcast and platform.

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LATEST DTN STORIES RELATED TO RURAL AMERICA

Watch this section for up-to-date DTN coverage of issues affecting rural America.

-- "CHS to Close or Sell 3 Grain Elevators," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (6/3/2026)

-- "Family Focuses on Diversification," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (6/3/2026)

-- An Urban's Rural View: "Why Bringing Down Oil's Price Is so Hard," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (6/2/2026)

-- "RFS Turned Corn Belt Land Into Gold," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (5/29/2026)

-- Ag Policy Blog: "Calling for a Stronger Safety Net, National Farmers Union Pitches a Soil Health Plan," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (5/26/2026)

-- "Cattle Ranch Creates Ways to Grow," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (5/26/2026)

-- "Chicago Fed Report: Cash Rents Drop, Farm Loans Surge Across Midwest," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (5/15/2026)

-- "View From the Range: Young Montana Ranchers Making Dream Into Reality," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (5/15/2026)

-- Ag Policy Blog: "USDA Budget Proposal Signals Shift Away from Food Aid, Rural Development," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (4/4/2026)

-- "USDA Halts REAP Grant Applications as Rising Energy Costs Squeeze Farmers," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (4/1/2026)

-- Ag Policy Blog: "MAHA Groups Push USDA to Overhaul School Lunches, But Costs Loom Large," https://www.dtnpf.com/… (3/31/2026)

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