The North Star States history and strength is rooted in rural Minnesota to truly understand greater Minnesota's impact on all of our lives we need to learn what makes rural Minnesota work but before we can start we have to answer a difficult question what is rural sure we can picture rural Minnesota in our heads barns cows farmhouses rolling countryside beautiful waves of grain but is there an official definition well it depends on which official you ask the US Census Bureau. 

What is Rural Development Course

The USDA's Economic Research Service and the Office of Management and Budget all have different standards for what land is considered a rural and the US Department of Health and Human Services gives us the indisputable definition that whatever is not urban is considered rural however there is more than just urban areas we have growing suburbs and extra urban cities encroaching into our farmland rural Minnesota is shrinking some think that Minnesota seven-county metropolitan area is the driver of Minnesota's prosperity. 

But studies show that the state's economy would be paralyzed if disconnected from rural Minnesota agriculture recreation tourism manufacturing forestry mining energy rural Minnesota is the engine that powers Minnesota's economy the Center for rural policy and development exists to research and understand how vital rural Minnesota is to everyone and that research helps answer our initial question