Women farmers quantitatively linked to better community well-being

January 17, 2024

Having more women in agriculture is associated with greater community well-being, according to researchers at NERCRD/Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their work is the first to quantitatively assess this link, and their findings suggest that women farmers approach their operations in ways that positively impact their communities.

Linking Health Care Reform and Economic Development in the Agriculture Sector

Researchers and Extension professionals engaged with this project explored how health insurance decisions affect farm and ranch families. Activities included interviewing farmers, hosting webinars, analyzing policy impacts, and developing tools for professionals who work with farm families.

Strengthening Economic Resilience in Appalachian Communities

The economies of many counties and sub-regions in the Appalachian Region have historically depended on a few dominant industries, such as mining or manufacturing. In recent years, Appalachian coal production—particularly in the Central Appalachian coal basin—has plummeted. Coal companies have gone bankrupt, resulting in job losses with devastating effects on families, communities, counties, and states. […]

Regional Economic Development as a New Theoretical Framework

This project led by Indiana University sought to build models and analytical tools that will enable policy makers and practitioners to craft development strategies and policies tailored to a region’s characteristics and capacities. The research team expanded theory about regional economic development to include more comprehensive data and a diverse array of academic disciplines, and […]

Enhancing Rural Economic Opportunities, Community Resilience, and Entrepreneurship

The quality of rural life is affected by the migration of people into and out of rural communities, the evolution of agriculture and industry, local social organization, and public policy. During the course of this multi-year, multi-state project, the team of researchers from land-grant universities across the U.S. examined the forces that shape rural communities […]

Industry Clusters and the Location of Agriculture: Establishing a Theoretical Base for Economic Development Practice

Production agriculture has largely been considered to be beyond the scope of cluster theory. As a result, key insights from the theory have not been fully leveraged for agricultural and rural development practice. This study, led by NERCRD TAC Chair Paul Gottlieb, Rutgers University, examined clustering behavior in production agriculture. Using case study literature and […]

Factors Affecting the Success of Female and Minority Rural Entrepreneurs and Rural Economic Vitality

Prior research suggests that expanding entrepreneurship or self-employment is a key strategy for promoting economic growth in rural, distressed regions. Furthermore, self-employment rates of women and minorities (especially Blacks) have lagged those of White males in rural areas. This project, led by West Virginia University, seeks to understand the factors that support or deter women […]

Listening Sessions Initiative on Rural Community, Economic, and Workforce Development

In the wake of multiple chronic challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, rural communities and small towns across the United States are beginning to build back from the associated impacts on their economies, workforces, and communities. These recovery efforts pose critical questions of where and how to invest. To identify where stakeholders engaged in rural […]

The Role of Innovation in Rural Firm Emergence and Vitality

Innovation lies at the heart of most entrepreneurial activity, and the goal of this USDA NIFA funded project was to deepen the understanding of whether and how entrepreneurial innovation can mitigate the growing economic threats facing rural U.S. workers and communities. This project, which ran from May 2018 through April 2023, utilized a newly available dataset […]