Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/18/19


Rural counties are experiencing long-term population loss, and the trend is particularly acute in the Great Plains where animal agriculture has played a major role for centuries, according to new research by the University of New Hampshire. 

Across the country, nearly 35 percent of rural counties are experiencing protracted and significant population loss, according to a release about the study from the university’s Carsey School of Public Policy. Those counties are now home to 6.2 million residents, a third fewer than lived there in 1950.

A map tracking the severity of the population loss shows that the out-migration is most acute in a swath of the rural U.S. from Montana and the Dakotas south to Texas, with Iowa and Missouri just to the east also part of the trend. These not only are areas where livestock is raised, but also where many major processing facilities are located, and have been having trouble finding sufficient labor for years.

In all, the researchers found that 746 counties representing 24 percent of all U.S. counties are depopulating and 91 percent of those are rural. In contrast, just 9 percent of urban counties are depopulating.

Still, more than 35 percent of rural counties have experienced sustained growth for decades, most of which are near metropolitan areas or centers for retirement and recreation.

The study found that almost half of the young adults in these rural areas moved away every decade from 1950 to 2010. That meant fewer children born and raised in the country while the aging population experienced a higher-than-average mortality rate.

It is “a downward spiral of population loss that will be difficult to break," researchers said.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.