Farmers say they need broadband to monitor their crops - Entrepreneur Generations

Keith Good with Farm Policy News has written up an omnibus piece that provides a comprehensive look at current news on the issue of rural broadband expansion. The upshot is that rural broadband access is often lousy, and rural communities need better service to attract businesses. That much is commonly known, but the more interesting angle is that farmers are advocating for broadband to better monitor their crops. "Local farmers, students and broadband industry leaders on [August 4th] asked federal officials to boost rural access to quality broadband in a local listening session with the federal Agriculture Secretary," Sari Lesk reports for USA Today.

The Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service released its biennial Farm Computer Usage and Ownership Report earlier in August. The 2017 report added two new methods that farmers could select on the survey for how they access the internet: fiber-optic access and mobile internet access through a phone or other device. Fiber-optic was used by 8 percent of the farms, and mobile was used by 17 percent. But Digital Subscriber Line was still the most common method, with 29 percent of respondents saying they access the internet through DSL. The NASS report also began asking farmers if they used a tablet or smart phone for farm business, and 39 percent said they did. Overall, the report says 71 percent of farms in the U.S. have internet access, though that figure tilts higher on farms in the Western U.S.

Rural vs. urban internet connectivity; click to enlarge (Wall Street Journal graphic)

Some in Congress and the administration are working to improve rural access. On Aug. 3, federal regulators revamped two subsidy programs that hadn't proved effective in spurring rural broadband expansion, John McKinnon reports for The Wall Street Journal. The article added that the Trump administration may address the digital divide in rural areas in its upcoming infrastructure proposal. Last week senators Shelley Capito (R-WV) and Senate Agriculture committee member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a bill to make grant funding available for rural broadband projects in high-need areas, Good reports.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2xNlCEW Farmers say they need broadband to monitor their crops - Entrepreneur Generations

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