Chris Jones, you do an excellent job with that hammer too. I believe that your “walk a mile” campaign in Arkansas was a brilliant example of talking and listening to everyone—EVERYONE—all over the state. Arkansas would be in a much better place right now if you were governor.
It's MAGA country. I have close small farmer friends because I support the farmers market. My farmer friends are mainly Republican and say they see no difference in their lives no matter who the president is. They like their guns.
There are more retirees in our county than farmers.
The USDA has offered low interest loans to rural citizens who are struggling to afford a home. My sister and her husband are retired and disabled. They were not able to afford another home because the prices are so high here when they moved here to be close to me. They have just finished their application for a USDA loan specifically for rural folk that offered 1%. Interest. Now with the freezes and cuts, their hopes for that loan are dashed along with their dream of a house.
Retirees are an important part of rural life so their issues: Social security, Medicare and Medicaid, affordable housing and food are their issues.
I agree. We have a house and 13 acres in one of the poorest districts in Missouri. When covid hit and the schools were closed, kids around here had a hard time doing homework because they didn't have broadband. Our closest grocery store is 10 miles away and our school is 16 miles away. The representative for this district is working on denying trans kids healthcare and shrinking Medicaid access and funds. There were no Democrats on the ballot for this district. We need a new plan and a new message. I appreciate how much work you are putting in.
I took heart from the Roswell, GA town hall meeting where the voters told the Congressman that his job was to represent THEM, not please Trump. Same message needs to go to your representative. Start calling their office and let them know.
I downloaded the app 5 Calls and I use it every day. I call my reps and follow up with emails. I have a letter that is supposed to be published next Sunday in the local paper letting Hawley, Burlison and Schmitt how I feel about their dereliction of duty to their constituents . We are also starting a group to figure out how to help our neighbors and friends to find essential services as they are being taken away because people are going to need help. I'm glad to have a community on substack for ideas moving forward. Thanks everyone for all the good ideas!
What's really sad is that here we are in 2026 and the party still hasn't figured out the facts which you eloquently laid out. I hope you had an opportunity to tell Mr. Martin all of them above.
I wonder how many trans kids are in your district, such that they are the major focus of your representative and taxes. Honestly, it's a bit amazing how much power a few trans kids (families) have over the entire political agenda!
Special needs kids, are always in the minority in school districts across the country. They deserve the care and attention they need to develop into normal, healthy adults who can contribute to our great country. It is not up to the president or anyone else in Washington to make decisions that negatively affect their lives.
It drives me crazy that they try and focus on making the kids that are the most vulnerable a scapegoat while ignoring the very real problems that their constituents face, poverty being top of the list.
Thanks for the post, Jess. It's nice to know somebody in DC might actually listening to folks like you. I have to disagree with one sentence you wrote, however. You said you were a "nobody from nowhere". I understand the point you were making, but you certainly are a somebody. Folks like you illuminate the path forward for a lot of us. Something that is desperately needed during these difficult times.
Well put. From a Missouri farm family whose house is in the suburbs of a city. We need the facts like those in this article and we need the policies that fit the facts. It's also a fact that suicide is a runaway epidemic in rural Missouri -- and not just full-time farm families.
Where I struggle is that Biden and a Democratic Congress funded massive infrastructure investment in red states, broadband in rural areas, and were stopped by Republicans from passing child/eldercare assistance.
Didn't they see the funding, even with Democrats always pathetic messaging?
Was the breakdown pure messaging, or were the programs provided insufficiently targeted?
hw- from what I can tell each state received/receives monies in the form of grants which are then distributed to other parties who are supposed to be reinforcing or creating the infrastructure. There is a Broadband webpage that still shows how funds were being distributed. Because this was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, I do not know if funding has been “frozen” by executive order. Unfortunately, grants and monies are controlled by the individual states. My state has a transparent website to monitor progress. One used to be able to trust your elected officials to serve the common good.
Spot on Jess. I am calling my reps and asking them to stop sending daily fund raising appeals and instead share policy ideas. I get nothing of that nature from them. I started following you when you were running for office and am so pleased to see the work you are doing,
100% this. I had to do the same with freshman rep for doing this. He raised MILLIONS to get into office and now needs to prove himself a capable legislator.
It is so tone deaf given what’s going on right now and how it’s affecting people in our district.
I'm a retiree on limited income, living in Oregon. I donated money to a woman running to unseat a Republican in another district. I am now deluged with money requests.
Me too. Too often the texts or emails are scam like and I am embarrassed to be associated with them. If not for the Trump & company threat I would block them immediately.
Amen!! Thank you for so succinctly saying what I’ve been trying to preach for decades. Ken Martin should know this. There is plenty of rural in Minnesota that is most definitely not farm country. The TikTok farmer story is fundamentally where we are headed. His money was unfrozen cause he went viral and supports “the king” Let’s get rural stories to go viral who support democracy.
You don't mention in the article, and I haven't watched the video, but it would be interesting to know what Skylar raises and who his output is contracted to. Politicians like to present all farmers as small businesspeople raising enough to live on and maybe having a little extra to sell and buy seed for next year because it makes a very effective backdrop for whatever policy they're pushing. Ag policy is essentially a system of subsidies for companies like ConAgra, IBP, Archer-Midlands and other major output aggregators who take the cream of the revenue and put the bulk of financial responsibility on the front-line growers. Your argument in favor of Democrats addressing the reality of rural life (and urban/suburban life too) is excellent, and will have to start by recognizing that, although they finance a lot of campaigns on both sides, billionaires are not our friends and have very different interests from the 328 million of us who aren't in that economic class.
I think it said he was a cattle producer, which caught my attention as we raise cattle. We were supposed to get drought relief, and NOWHERE near that kind of money, but I guess that’s frozen. JSYK, we voted for Kamala.
Good for you. I have a friend who sustainably raises Wagyu quality beef in IN, sells it at competitive prices to factory farm beef of the same grade, and makes money.
You are so right! We had a skid loader, but it died. We had a two tractors that have died, and can’t afford replacements ( after having them worked on) so we make do with a truck and jerry rigging makeshift fixes. So far 🤞🏻😊
That's a real break. Far too many farmers have gone deeply into debt either for equipment or leaseholds to expand their business and then gotten into trouble when prices or demand tanked. That's where Farm Aid came from back in the Great days.
I live in a rural, red, non-farming area too. People here are already feeling the impacts of the chaos in DC.
Our congressional representatives is a coward who is afraid to attend public events. So, I’m organizing people to speak up at local meetings of elected bodies.
I had not yet thought about getting outside support. hmmm. I am hoping this can happen across the country, so getting this idea out to frustrated people who want to act is a good start.
Ideally, enough people will show up to get news coverage (hasn’t happened here, yet).
Do you mind saying where "here" is? I did post a link on Robert Hubbell's substack today to your post, but it was something like the 350th comment, and probably not many will see it. I will try to spread it as best I can--but I'm not a person with a big platform, to say the least.
Great ideas! I’ve got local meetings on my calendar now. Our local Democratic Committee is working on making sure more people go to these local meetings.
Your voice is SOOOO needed right now! I’m incredibly appreciative of your work and people like you who’ve been involved in the political arena and know how to navigate it as well as your heart to see regular folks treated with dignity and fairness.
I thought Biden’s Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act were extremely beneficial to rural families, and Kamala’s announced policies as well. She was on track to help with child and eldercare if she got democratic majorities in Congress. Every time it was brought up though, the media added, “but people are more concerned about grocery prices.” It was nonstop like they all had the same script. We need good policies, yes, and we need passionate, interesting voices everywhere with less infighting drama.
They were great plans, but they didn’t filter down. I couldn’t in good conscience go out and knock doors and talk about Bidenomics when folks were still suffering. The policies just didn’t have time to come down to rural spaces.
Do you think that those plans are a good place for Dems to start? In other words, if we had Dems running in red areas, or coming to red areas, starting now, and building on those proposals, would it maybe have resonance in 2 and 4 years?
Consider who owns the mainstream media. They're saying what they're told to say by their ultrawealthy owners. Have you noticed that they don't do that to GOP politicians?
If Democrats had been listening to independent senator Bernie Sanders for the past few decades, instead of poo-pooing him because he’s not a democrat, they might have caught on to this a long time ago. His message has never changed: all Americans need healthcare, clean air and water, a decent living wage, and on and on.
I applaud the effort to “get out DC.” I hope they do, and I hope they listen to good people like you, Jess.
My governor Tim Walz has spent his entire term focusing on one Minnesota. As a state employee I can tell you that we work for all Minnesotans. Is it enough? There is always more that can be done. I look forward to reading your ideas. You are 100% correct; rural does not equal agriculture.
Insightful as always, Jess. I just want to point out that frightened Republican lawmakers are an opening for Dems to get out to rural areas and (I hope) start talking about the policies and issues you are highlighting. Here's an example in Michigan. Yes, it is farm focused, but it's an opportunity to bring up healthcare and childcare and reproductive rights and schools and Republican corruption and even foreign policy (tariffs, Ukraine). https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/02/21/republican-lawmakers-no-show-as-western-wisconsin-farmers-complain-of-trump-chaos-disruption/
Rural does not equal farmer and we need people like you to hammer that point home!
Thanks, Chris!
Chris Jones, you do an excellent job with that hammer too. I believe that your “walk a mile” campaign in Arkansas was a brilliant example of talking and listening to everyone—EVERYONE—all over the state. Arkansas would be in a much better place right now if you were governor.
I used to think I would suffer from brain fog for the rest of my life..."𝐛𝐮𝐭" this changed everything.... https://t.co/vKIgtOFaNx
Thank you for this post. I couldn't agree more.
I am a retiree in southwestern rural Colorado
It's MAGA country. I have close small farmer friends because I support the farmers market. My farmer friends are mainly Republican and say they see no difference in their lives no matter who the president is. They like their guns.
There are more retirees in our county than farmers.
The USDA has offered low interest loans to rural citizens who are struggling to afford a home. My sister and her husband are retired and disabled. They were not able to afford another home because the prices are so high here when they moved here to be close to me. They have just finished their application for a USDA loan specifically for rural folk that offered 1%. Interest. Now with the freezes and cuts, their hopes for that loan are dashed along with their dream of a house.
Retirees are an important part of rural life so their issues: Social security, Medicare and Medicaid, affordable housing and food are their issues.
I agree. We have a house and 13 acres in one of the poorest districts in Missouri. When covid hit and the schools were closed, kids around here had a hard time doing homework because they didn't have broadband. Our closest grocery store is 10 miles away and our school is 16 miles away. The representative for this district is working on denying trans kids healthcare and shrinking Medicaid access and funds. There were no Democrats on the ballot for this district. We need a new plan and a new message. I appreciate how much work you are putting in.
Deborah, Run for something. School board, county supervisors, library board. Go to:
https://runforsomething.net/. There is help there.
I took heart from the Roswell, GA town hall meeting where the voters told the Congressman that his job was to represent THEM, not please Trump. Same message needs to go to your representative. Start calling their office and let them know.
I downloaded the app 5 Calls and I use it every day. I call my reps and follow up with emails. I have a letter that is supposed to be published next Sunday in the local paper letting Hawley, Burlison and Schmitt how I feel about their dereliction of duty to their constituents . We are also starting a group to figure out how to help our neighbors and friends to find essential services as they are being taken away because people are going to need help. I'm glad to have a community on substack for ideas moving forward. Thanks everyone for all the good ideas!
Deborah, you are an inspiration. Having a group working together definitely helps when motivation lags.
What's really sad is that here we are in 2026 and the party still hasn't figured out the facts which you eloquently laid out. I hope you had an opportunity to tell Mr. Martin all of them above.
I wonder how many trans kids are in your district, such that they are the major focus of your representative and taxes. Honestly, it's a bit amazing how much power a few trans kids (families) have over the entire political agenda!
Special needs kids, are always in the minority in school districts across the country. They deserve the care and attention they need to develop into normal, healthy adults who can contribute to our great country. It is not up to the president or anyone else in Washington to make decisions that negatively affect their lives.
It drives me crazy that they try and focus on making the kids that are the most vulnerable a scapegoat while ignoring the very real problems that their constituents face, poverty being top of the list.
Thanks for the post, Jess. It's nice to know somebody in DC might actually listening to folks like you. I have to disagree with one sentence you wrote, however. You said you were a "nobody from nowhere". I understand the point you were making, but you certainly are a somebody. Folks like you illuminate the path forward for a lot of us. Something that is desperately needed during these difficult times.
❤️
Well put. From a Missouri farm family whose house is in the suburbs of a city. We need the facts like those in this article and we need the policies that fit the facts. It's also a fact that suicide is a runaway epidemic in rural Missouri -- and not just full-time farm families.
Where I struggle is that Biden and a Democratic Congress funded massive infrastructure investment in red states, broadband in rural areas, and were stopped by Republicans from passing child/eldercare assistance.
Didn't they see the funding, even with Democrats always pathetic messaging?
Was the breakdown pure messaging, or were the programs provided insufficiently targeted?
hw- from what I can tell each state received/receives monies in the form of grants which are then distributed to other parties who are supposed to be reinforcing or creating the infrastructure. There is a Broadband webpage that still shows how funds were being distributed. Because this was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, I do not know if funding has been “frozen” by executive order. Unfortunately, grants and monies are controlled by the individual states. My state has a transparent website to monitor progress. One used to be able to trust your elected officials to serve the common good.
Spot on Jess. I am calling my reps and asking them to stop sending daily fund raising appeals and instead share policy ideas. I get nothing of that nature from them. I started following you when you were running for office and am so pleased to see the work you are doing,
100% this. I had to do the same with freshman rep for doing this. He raised MILLIONS to get into office and now needs to prove himself a capable legislator.
It is so tone deaf given what’s going on right now and how it’s affecting people in our district.
I'm a retiree on limited income, living in Oregon. I donated money to a woman running to unseat a Republican in another district. I am now deluged with money requests.
Me too. Too often the texts or emails are scam like and I am embarrassed to be associated with them. If not for the Trump & company threat I would block them immediately.
Trump just took telehealth away from Medicare recipients. That’s a big loss to elderly people in rural areas & has nothing to do with farming.
Paula and Annie, please call, write, email your US House Rep, Hawley, and Schmitt, and tell them!
Yeah, that is really going to mess me up.
Amen!! Thank you for so succinctly saying what I’ve been trying to preach for decades. Ken Martin should know this. There is plenty of rural in Minnesota that is most definitely not farm country. The TikTok farmer story is fundamentally where we are headed. His money was unfrozen cause he went viral and supports “the king” Let’s get rural stories to go viral who support democracy.
You don't mention in the article, and I haven't watched the video, but it would be interesting to know what Skylar raises and who his output is contracted to. Politicians like to present all farmers as small businesspeople raising enough to live on and maybe having a little extra to sell and buy seed for next year because it makes a very effective backdrop for whatever policy they're pushing. Ag policy is essentially a system of subsidies for companies like ConAgra, IBP, Archer-Midlands and other major output aggregators who take the cream of the revenue and put the bulk of financial responsibility on the front-line growers. Your argument in favor of Democrats addressing the reality of rural life (and urban/suburban life too) is excellent, and will have to start by recognizing that, although they finance a lot of campaigns on both sides, billionaires are not our friends and have very different interests from the 328 million of us who aren't in that economic class.
I think it said he was a cattle producer, which caught my attention as we raise cattle. We were supposed to get drought relief, and NOWHERE near that kind of money, but I guess that’s frozen. JSYK, we voted for Kamala.
Good for you. I have a friend who sustainably raises Wagyu quality beef in IN, sells it at competitive prices to factory farm beef of the same grade, and makes money.
That’s awesome. We’re a small family farm, but get by, but not always profitable. So the meager amount we get in programs like this really helps.
And, I'm guessing, not getting it could be crippling.
You are so right! We had a skid loader, but it died. We had a two tractors that have died, and can’t afford replacements ( after having them worked on) so we make do with a truck and jerry rigging makeshift fixes. So far 🤞🏻😊
Good luck to you and your family.
Fortunately, we own our land, but the cost of feed, fertilizer, hay, vet visits if needed all have increased
That's a real break. Far too many farmers have gone deeply into debt either for equipment or leaseholds to expand their business and then gotten into trouble when prices or demand tanked. That's where Farm Aid came from back in the Great days.
I pray for the ones who aren’t as fortunate 😥
Thank you! That is so kind!
Not to mention fencing, etc. We will manage but I know to others it’s iffy.
I live in a rural, red, non-farming area too. People here are already feeling the impacts of the chaos in DC.
Our congressional representatives is a coward who is afraid to attend public events. So, I’m organizing people to speak up at local meetings of elected bodies.
https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahagreen1/p/local-action-for-democracy?r=7jhrp&utm_medium=ios
This is fantastic, Sarah. How can those of us who aren't rural or from red states help you with this?
Pass it on. It's an EXCELLENT ground plan. Anyone who's wondering what they can do can get ideas from this.
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for your support.
I had not yet thought about getting outside support. hmmm. I am hoping this can happen across the country, so getting this idea out to frustrated people who want to act is a good start.
Ideally, enough people will show up to get news coverage (hasn’t happened here, yet).
I’ll keep thinking.
Do you mind saying where "here" is? I did post a link on Robert Hubbell's substack today to your post, but it was something like the 350th comment, and probably not many will see it. I will try to spread it as best I can--but I'm not a person with a big platform, to say the least.
I used to think I would suffer from brain fog for the rest of my life..."𝐛𝐮𝐭" this changed everything.... https://t.co/vKIgtOFaNx
Great ideas! I’ve got local meetings on my calendar now. Our local Democratic Committee is working on making sure more people go to these local meetings.
Your voice is SOOOO needed right now! I’m incredibly appreciative of your work and people like you who’ve been involved in the political arena and know how to navigate it as well as your heart to see regular folks treated with dignity and fairness.
I’m an old suburban woman who sees the truth in this post. I hope democrats are taking note. ✌🏻
I thought Biden’s Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act were extremely beneficial to rural families, and Kamala’s announced policies as well. She was on track to help with child and eldercare if she got democratic majorities in Congress. Every time it was brought up though, the media added, “but people are more concerned about grocery prices.” It was nonstop like they all had the same script. We need good policies, yes, and we need passionate, interesting voices everywhere with less infighting drama.
They were great plans, but they didn’t filter down. I couldn’t in good conscience go out and knock doors and talk about Bidenomics when folks were still suffering. The policies just didn’t have time to come down to rural spaces.
Do you think that those plans are a good place for Dems to start? In other words, if we had Dems running in red areas, or coming to red areas, starting now, and building on those proposals, would it maybe have resonance in 2 and 4 years?
Consider who owns the mainstream media. They're saying what they're told to say by their ultrawealthy owners. Have you noticed that they don't do that to GOP politicians?
This is a huge part of the disconnect.
Local news,national news owned by
If Democrats had been listening to independent senator Bernie Sanders for the past few decades, instead of poo-pooing him because he’s not a democrat, they might have caught on to this a long time ago. His message has never changed: all Americans need healthcare, clean air and water, a decent living wage, and on and on.
I applaud the effort to “get out DC.” I hope they do, and I hope they listen to good people like you, Jess.
My governor Tim Walz has spent his entire term focusing on one Minnesota. As a state employee I can tell you that we work for all Minnesotans. Is it enough? There is always more that can be done. I look forward to reading your ideas. You are 100% correct; rural does not equal agriculture.
Everything trump says is a lie. No surprise there.
Insightful as always, Jess. I just want to point out that frightened Republican lawmakers are an opening for Dems to get out to rural areas and (I hope) start talking about the policies and issues you are highlighting. Here's an example in Michigan. Yes, it is farm focused, but it's an opportunity to bring up healthcare and childcare and reproductive rights and schools and Republican corruption and even foreign policy (tariffs, Ukraine). https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/02/21/republican-lawmakers-no-show-as-western-wisconsin-farmers-complain-of-trump-chaos-disruption/