By Russell Shaffer
In spring 2025, students from an agricultural economics class at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln met with residents from Fairbury, Nebraska, to discuss the community’s plans for growth and development, and how the students could help. A year later, the impact of those discussions is still being felt and, in some cases, the discussed goals are coming to fruition.
The course, Agricultural Economics 376, focuses on rural community development. Taught by Daniela Mattos, assistant professor of practice in agricultural economics, the students collaborate on a team project, interacting with rural residents to identify challenges in their community and then analyze and propose recommendations to address those challenges.
“We try as much as possible to make it very holistic,” Mattos said. “We look at every aspect of the community, not just the economics, because everything in a community is connected ... If we do anything for the economy, it’s going to affect all the other parts of the community.”
Mattos chose Fairbury for practical reasons — it was reasonably close to the university, making day trips feasible for students, and it had a slightly larger-than-average population for Nebraska cities of nearly 4,000.
After spending weeks in the classroom learning about Fairbury, the students visited and met with local leaders, business owners and residents. The conversation centered on the challenges the community faced, including workforce housing shortages, insufficient child care options, infrastructure and amenities, and broadband internet.
Source : unl.edu