In this episode, Michael chats with Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, who represents Maryland's Sixth District. They discuss SNAP cuts and their impact on rural food security and agricultural economies; Farm Bill priorities and the need for long-term certainty for farmers; artificial intelligence, workforce development, and economic opportunity in rural communities; Medicaid changes and the future of rural healthcare access; the Rural Health Transformation Program and its potential to offset Medicaid cuts; rural broadband access and its importance to education, telehealth, and economic opportunity; and much more.

In this episode, Michael chats with Morgan Tweet, Co-founder and CEO of IND HEMP. They discuss the trajectory of industrial hemp since the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp's potential value to rural America beyond cannabinoids, the stakes of the current federal hemp policy debate for farmers and industrial hemp businesses, what effective federal hemp policy could look like, the challenges of rebuilding agricultural processing and manufacturing capacity in rural America, the long-term outlook for the U.S. hemp industry, and much more.

IND HEMP: www.indhemp.com

The Goodness of Hemp: www.thegoodnessofhemp.org

Goodness of Hemp YouTube: www.youtube.com/@GoodnessofHemp

National Hemp Association: www.nationalhempassociation.org

In this episode, Michael chats with Meg Taft, Executive Director of the Rural Youth Institute. They discuss rural youth development and opportunity; the development of the Aspirations Incubator model in rural Maine; relationship-driven approaches to youth success; family and community engagement; lessons from implementing and evaluating rural youth programs; the future of rural youth support and leadership; and much more.