In Trading Acres, Jessica A. Shoemaker (Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and James Fallows Tierney (Law, Illinois Institute of Technology) address the growing trend of financialization of farmland.  

In “Broadband Internet Speed Upgrades and the Farmland Market: A Shift-Share Instrumental Variable Approach,” authors Xiaorui Qu, Qinan Lu, Minghao Li, and Wendong Zhang (all College of Economics and Management, China) conduct an empirical analysis of the impact of investment in broadband internet on the value of America’s farmland.

In How Service Exclusion Affects Rural Depopulation. An Approach Based on Structural Equation Modeling, M. Pilar Alonso (Geography, History and History of Art, Universitat de Lleida), Pilar Gargallo, Jesús A. Miguel, Manual Salvador (all Applied Economics, Universidad de Zaragoza), Luis Lample (Accounting and Finance, Universidad de Zaragoza), and Carlos López Escolano (Geography and Territorial Planning, Universidad de Zaragoza) present an analysis of rural depopulation trends in the Aragon region of Spain.

In “Financial Incentives and Landowner Interest in Reforesting Open Lands in the Southeastern United States,” authors Chloe Schnieder and Nina Randazzo (Environmental Defense Fund), Ram Kumar Adhikari (Forestry, Mississippi State University), and Neelam Chandra Poudyal (Natural Resources, University of Tennessee) examine the factors influencing landowners’ willingness to participate in reforestation programs.

In “It’s on All the Time in Our House:” Police Scanners and Everyday Rural Life, author Michael Branch (Sociology, Hartwick College) explores the long-time use of police scanners by laypeople in a rural town in upstate New York. He argues that, despite the perceived community benefits, there are also unforeseen consequences for those living in the community.

In “Intersection of Race and Rurality with Health Care-Associated Infections and Subsequent Outcomes,” authors Katelin B. Nickel, MPH, Hannah Kinzer, MPH, Anne Butler, PhD, MS, Kren E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, Victoria J. Fraser, MD, Jason P. Burnham, MD, MSCI, Jennie H. Kwon, DO, MSCI (all Washington University) examine how social and geographic factors such as race and rurality affect access to equitable healthcare.

In Towards a right to the rural?, Levi Van Sant (Integrative Studies, George Mason University) and Madeleine Fairbairn (Environmental Studies, University of California – Santa Cruz) explore the conceptual framework of ‘a right to the rural’ to clarify struggles to access rural spaces.

In Indian Country Lawyers: A South Dakota Survery, authors Hannah Haksgaard and Bryce Drapeaux (both South Dakota Law) address the access to justice crisis experienced by Native American communities in South Dakota. They present data on the lack of available, licensed Native American attorneys on and near reservations to develop an accurate understanding of the extent of the shortage.

In Small and Rural Local Government Environmental Sustainability Plans, Programs and Policies in Cascadia: A Comparative Analysis, Erika Allen Wolters, Brent S. Steel, and Sadaf Farooq (all Public Policy, Oregon State), and Tamara Krawchenko (Public Administration, University of Victoria) examine the environmental sustainability efforts of small and local governments within the “Cascadia” region which spans British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.