When the economy suffers, as it has in many rural Central Illinois communities, shoppers tend to become bargain hunters, looking for the best deals to help stretch their ever-thinning dollar. That has helped expand the market for discount stores.

For the first time in seven years, rural America’s population is growing.

Farmers started forming co-ops nearly a century ago, primarily to get better prices for their crops. They pooled their resources, put up storage bins and gained leverage with buyers.

The Trump administration wants to show rural communities, which voted for him by wide margins in the 2016 election, they are still on the president’s mind. It suggested a list of broad ideas in January to spark growth and carved out rural interests in an infrastructure plan.

In winter, farmers across the U.S. visit their banks to learn whether they have credit for the next growing season, relying on that borrowed money to buy seed, fertilizer and chemicals.