How My Local Press Is Reviving Agricultural News in Small-Town America

Across rural America, agriculture isn't just an industry — it's the backbone of entire communities. From family-owned farms to co-ops, feed stores, and equipment dealers, the business of farming touches nearly every corner of small-town life. Yet as local newspapers have shuttered at an alarming rate — with more than 50% of small-town and community papers closing over the past two decades — the stories that matter most to these communities are going untold.

The result is a growing crisis of "news deserts": towns where residents have lost access to reliable, locally focused journalism. Without that coverage, agricultural issues like water rights, crop policy, livestock regulations, and rural economic development go unreported. Community cohesion suffers. Civic engagement declines. And the unique identity of these towns begins to fade.

That's exactly the problem My Local Press was built to solve.

My Local Press is a community-driven platform designed to revive local news and journalism in the towns and communities that need it most. It gives journalists, publishers, farmers, business owners, and everyday residents the tools to create and share the stories that define their communities — from breaking agricultural news to spotlights on local producers, seasonal farming updates, and rural policy debates.

By empowering local voices and providing a trusted platform for community content, My Local Press helps ensure that the people who depend on agriculture — and the journalists who cover it — have a place to connect, inform, and thrive.

Because when local journalism survives, so do the communities it serves.