By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

On-farm technology use is on the rise across the Lone Star State. About 70 percent of Texas farmers and ranchers had access to the Internet in 2016, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

That’s up two percent from 2015.

Of those with Internet access, 15 percent, up one percent from last year, used it to buy seed, fertilizer, chemicals, veterinarian supplies, machinery, replacement parts, farm supplies or other products.

Nationally, 23 percent used their computer to purchase agricultural inputs.

The number of Texans marketing commodities, price tracking and watching online auctions remained stable over the last two years at 12 percent. Nationally, two percent more farmers and ranchers, for a total of 18 percent, marketed online.

Computer use for farm businesses in Texas increased five percent over the past two years to 42 percent in 2017.

This is the first year USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has recorded the number of farmers and ranchers using smart phones or tablets for their business. In Texas, 34 percent use mobile devices to conduct farm business. Nationally, that number is 39 percent.

Across the U.S., 52 percent of crop farmers use a computer for business, while 42 percent of livestock producers do.

Seventy-three percent of American farmers have Internet access, and 72 percent own or lease a computer. In Texas, 74 percent own or lease their own computer, and 70 percent have Internet access.

Forty-seven percent of the nation’s farmers and ranchers reported they used a computer for farm business—with or without the Internet. In the south, that number is slightly below the national average at 42 percent.

The type of Internet service agriculture is using is also changing. Fewer farmers in Texas (3 percent) and the U.S. (2 percent) use dial-up.

In Texas, DSL (27 percent) and satellite (26 percent) were the most common ways of logging on to the Internet.

Nationally, DSL is most common with 29 percent of users. Satellite came in second with 21 percent of agricultural users.

To evaluate the percentages in its report, USDA NASS used farm numbers from a February 2016 report. The 2017 numbers are not available until February of 2018.

The number of farms in Texas was calculated using 241,500 farms, which includes any place selling or producing $1,000 or more of agricultural products.
Nationally, 2.5 million farms were used for calculations.

The 2017 computer usage estimates, according to NASS, are based on responses from more than 24,344 agricultural operations of all sizes and types.

The full report, which includes a state-by-state breakdown, is available here.