Reliable mail service is not a luxury in rural America. It is a necessity for receiving checks, handling daily business, and getting critical medicine and supplies that many families cannot easily pick up in town. But delays are becoming more common, and the frustration is spreading well beyond Iowa. Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins says communities across the Midwest are being hit hard by recent Postal Service changes that reduce service in rural areas.
Hawkins says these delays are not minor inconveniences. When pickups are dropped to once a day and local schedules are pushed back, everything slows down. Payments arrive late. Business transactions take longer. And families depending on timely prescriptions or medical shipments face growing uncertainty. The changes also create new risk for producers who sell cattle and other livestock and now wait much longer for their checks to arrive.
Hawkins believes the problem comes down to fairness. He says rural Americans deserve the same level of service as urban and suburban areas and should not be treated differently simply because of their zip code. He argues that the Postal Service should not balance its budget by slowing delivery for half the country. The stories coming from Missouri and other states show just how widespread the impacts have become, from damaged packages to significant delays at regional processing centers.
