Rural Kansas is dying
newfoodeconomy.org
Rural Kansas is dying
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Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#2I think the fact Kansas's population is decreasing is likely a good thing. People generally prefer living other places and automation let's that happen.
PS: The average household net worth in Kansas is apparently $424,976 which is well above the US national average.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#3.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#4TThe only mention of corn in the entire article:
While other northwest Kansas farmers were draining the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate thirsty cornfields, Raile dry farmed. He likes to bet against the crowd.
Kansas is wheat country, and corn is king. This article doesn’t even touch upon this 800lb gorilla, it doesn’t mention corn subsidies that keep corn prices high while he author goes on for paragraphs lamenting how boosted production has dropped wheat prices.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#5This is much less interesting than the rust belt decline or any other number of dying communities. Kansas used to need a lot more people to support farming and thus had enough people around for small towns to have a little life to them. Now they don't. It's a good thing that we can make so much food with fewer people, but it does mean even fewer people will live in rural agricultural communities.
We love to romanticize the small farmer, but I don't know why we'd expect vast areas of farm land to support vibrant small towns.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#6As far as I'm aware, there's no procedure or help for the orderly shutdown of a locality that is no longer necessary for the greater community of any level of government. I'm not even aware of there being such procedures in place in other countries, let alone the US where this has context.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#7TThe only mention of corn in the entire article: While other northwest Kansas farmers were draining the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate thirsty cornfields, Raile dry farmed. He likes to bet against the crowd. Kansas is wheat country, and corn is king. This article doesn’t even touch upon this 800lb gorilla, it doesn’t mention corn subsidies that keep corn prices high while he author goes on for paragraphs lamenting how…
Well it's not like you have awesome urban living around corn fields either. Huge fields and few people kind of get in the way of vibrant towns.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#8.
This doesn't seem entirely accurate - Minnesota and Iowa, for example, are crawling with well-respected private liberal arts colleges. The problem historically hasn't been producing an educated population, it has been keeping them there.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#9.
This doesn't seem entirely accurate - Minnesota and Iowa, for example, are crawling with well-respected private liberal arts colleges. The problem historically hasn't been producing an educated population, it has been keeping them there.
It isn't accurate at all. The main reason is farming and agriculture, and the economics thereof. Kansas is dying because its biggest industry is failing.
Re: Rural Kansas is dying
#10I enjoyed this book about modern-day 'frontier America':
http://davids-book-reviews.blogspot.com/2016/10/miles-from-n...
It's pretty insightful regarding the rise and fall of those places.