Good afternoon,

Around the country, spring is slipping into summer. You can tell by the burgeoning strawberry season, May flowers, and algal blooms – yes, those bountiful cyanobacteria are back and making the rivers and lakes that you're used to a little less refreshing.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) spawning from agricultural runoff choke waterways and marine wildlife. But farmers and scientists are investigating a way to repurpose this pollution into a solution – as fertilizer itself. While it may seem counterintuitive to cultivate cyanobacteria, which can easily grow out of control, organic farmers are interested in this alternative to traditional synthetic fertilizers, which can remove existing HABs and prevent future HABs from expanding while boosting crop growth. The trick will be to sustain algal production and avoid toxins.

If you're talking organic, you're going to want to hear from organic farmer and co-owner of Janie's Mill Harold Wilken. Harold joined the Hot Dish podcast to talk about his transition to sustainable farming and stone-grinding his wheat at Janie's Mill. Listen now!

Here's what else you need to know this week...

THREE DEMOCRATIC VULNERABILITIES ON THE ECONOMY

• Every election, conjecture about what will decide the winners has boiled down to "It's the economy, stupid!" – begging the question, which aspects of the economy? And the follow-up, what can be done about it?

• Third Way and Impact Research seeks to answer those questions. Their recent poll identified three economic issues that Democrats must address to win voters' confidence:

1. Voters believe Democrats don't care about economic growth.
2. Voters believe Democrats prefer handouts and don't value hard work.
3. Voters believe Democrats don't understand or care about business.

• Despite overseeing record job growth and small business creation, Democrats still need to better emphasize their commitment to economic growth and ability to create new opportunities that allow Americans to earn a good living where they live.

• Voters across racial demographics also support both pro-business and pro-worker policies, believing that increasing workers' pay and benefits begets business growth.

• Read more about closing the economic trust gap here.

SCHOOL VOUCHER SPLIT

• On the other side of the aisle, the GOP is facing its own issues. Today, Texans are headed to the polls for primary runoffs. At stake is the future of public schools.

• A whopping 29 states have some form of school voucher system in place, allowing taxpayer dollars to fund private education – a system that lacks accountability, can deny enrollment (and thus, education) to children on arbitrary grounds, and drains America's already-underfunded public schools of their money.

• The programs have divided Republicans across the nation, disrupting even statehouses with red supermajorities. In Texas, Republicans from rural areas joined forces with Democrats to attempt to defeat Governor Greg Abbott's vouchers initiative. Many rural counties lack a private school in their district, so while wealthy families whose children are already enrolled in private schools get to benefit from voucher funding, rural families, who often have no choice but to send their kids to their local public schools, see funds being drained from a public institution that employs and educates their community.

• In March's primaries, Gov. Abbott helped push out six GOP incumbents who opposed vouchers. In today's runoff, four anti-voucher – also known as pro-public school – incumbents are on the ballot facing right-wing, Betsy DeVos-backed challengers.
   
• Public schools are the cornerstones of American communities. Diverting resources from these classrooms turns against the teachers and administrators who work to provide a quality education – and threatens children's futures.

RURAL PROGRESS SUMMIT

• Next week, OCP's 2024 Rural Progress Summit begins! If you haven't already signed up, reserve your seat now – and tune in to a variety of panels Tuesday, June 4 through Thursday, June 6 covering the election, agriculture, health care, and more. Join OCP board members, state policymakers, and rural stakeholders to discuss the future of rural America today.

SIGN UP NOW!

• New York Times: Trump's Trial Has Entered Its Final Stages. Here's What Comes Next.
• The Hill: Sparks fly over SNAP at contentious markup of House farm bill

Be sure to follow the One Country Project on Twitter and Facebook, and listen to The Hot Dish podcast.