I see that problem around here too. Where I live is the city, but if you drive as little as ten minutes away, you're nearly in the middle of nowhere... its weird! We have a large Amish and Mennonite population and it seems as if the problems land on their farms - not their fault, but people think "oh, they have a barn, my unwanted cat would be happy there." and just drop them off.

My brother in law was working on a farm last summer and brought home three kittens that were days away from death. My mother in law nursed them back to health, but lost one. He said there were at least ten more cats, but he took the sickest to try and save them.