08-20-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

The business case for turning the barn lights back on

As U.S. farms disappear at an accelerating rate, the loss of each one ripples far beyond the family that ran it, hollowing out the rural communities built around them.

[Photo: Getty Images]

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At dusk in rural America, you can tell a lot by whether the barn lights are still on. That light means a farmer is still doing the work. It means a family is still on the land. Across the country, those lights are carrying more weight than ever, because each one that goes dark says something about whether a family farm can survive another season and whether a rural community can keep its economy moving. When I think about what is at stake across our food system and the broader economy, that is the image I come back to.

I grew up in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin—an area that is packed with small family farms. Many of my early memories come from time spent on the farm and around the supper table. After a long day helping on my grandparents’ farm, I could sit down to eat and see how their farm connected to the food supply and the community. That experience........

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