In a terrible rut, information is important (6)
I believe the answer is:
urgent
'important' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'in a terrible rut information' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a terrible' indicates an anagram.
'information' becomes 'gen' (gen is a kind of information).
'rut' is an anagram of 'urt'.
'urt' enclosing 'gen' is 'URGENT'.
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for urgent that I've seen before include "demanding speedy action" , "In need of immediate action" , "High priority" , "Demanding immediate attention" , "Important and in a hurry" .)