rural

More than 60 percent of Iowas live in the city, yet the state is commonly pictured as a land of farms, dotted with small, industrial cities.

Mobile phones - and other types of communication technology - can be a powerful way to improve the welfare of the rural poor, writes Maximo Torero of the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Loans to purchase homes in small towns and in rural America are running far below pre-recession totals, says the Housing Assistance Council in a story on Daily Yonder.

Job growth in rural America was half the rate of urban areas over the past year, says the Daily Yonder, in a look at Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

While only one-fifth of the U.S. population, rural Americans account for half of people who don't use the Internet, say the Daily Yonder, citing a McKinsey and Co report.

"Rural voters are crucial" for Democrats if they are to win Senate races in Kentucky and Georgia, blogs political consultant Matt Barron in The Hill newspaper. The incumbent in Kentucky is Republican Mitch McConnell, the majority leader. Democrat Alison Grimes has criticized McConnell for missing dozens of Agriculture Committee meetings.

Proximity to an urban center may be key for maintaining rural population, say three Iowa State University researchers.

Increasingly, veterinarians prefer to practice in cities rather than rural areas, says a paper at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.

The Obama administration announced the "Local Food, Local Places" project to provide expert advice to rural communities to use local food systems as an engine for economic growth.

Discussion of poverty often focuses "on the 'culture' of poor urban residents," says front page story in New York Times. "Almost forgotten is how many ways poverty plays out in America, and how much long-term poverty is a rural problem."

Nearly 15 percent of Americans live in nonmetropolitan counties, also known as rural areas, a total of 46.2 mln people in 2013.

A new report from the USDA found that while independent grocery stores outnumber chain grocers in rural areas, they account for a smaller percentage of grocery sales.