<div id="subtitle">Much-maligned cotton subsidies give cotton country a crutch to stand on through the recession</div><div><p>The white puff of cotton blooms cover Missouri's Bootheel at harvest, filling both tiny planter boxes outside a Super 8 motel's front door and nearby thousand-acre spreads. "Thank goodness they ...

<div id="subtitle">US agriculture secretary: Rural areas great places to live and work, and need to promote it</div><div><p>The federal government needs to help rural areas promote their advantages to the American public and find ways to create higher-paying jobs outside of urban areas, U.S. Agriculture Secretary ...