Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy is doubling down on rural hospitals and the role they play in rural communities.
Speaking alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbot, he says that rural health goes far beyond the hospital walls.
According to the Secretary, “These institutions are not just medical providers, they’re, in most cases, they’re the single largest employer in those areas. They have the highest paying jobs, and when they lose them, they, as we talked about before and it’s not just the hospital that closes. It’s the pharmacy that closes. It’s the stores that close, and the community collapses. So we have to, and President Trump understands, preserve these rural hospitals, and they were closing at an epidemic rate.”
Some of these issues are being addressed.
The recently passed Big Beautiful Bill includes the Rural Transformation Program. It will spend $50 billion over the course of five years, helping offset other provisions in that legislation.
Sen. Roger Marshall discusses the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and what expanded milk options could mean for students and dairy farmers. Industry groups say it is a win for student nutrition and dairy producers.
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Supplemental Disaster Relief Program Stage Two will disburse around $16 billion, approved by Congress last year. Sign-ups begin Monday, and producers have until April to return applications.
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An outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) first appeared after livestock events in Texas and Arizona, and some horses have already died.
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Early Cattle-on-Feed estimates point to slightly tighter cattle supplies, reinforcing the need to monitor prices and timing for winter marketing.
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Row crop losses in 2025 are outpacing last year. With no disaster aid yet approved, many operations face a tough financial bridge to 2026 even as Farm Bill improvements remain a year away.
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