A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows full implementation of rural broadband could increase farm and ranch production.
The report, A Case for Rural Broadband, highlights the benefits full deployment of broadband offers to agriculture. It shows policy makers the importance of fully implementing rural broadband, American Farm Bureau Federation Economic Analyst Megan Nelson said.
“This is showing an approximate 18 percent of total production could be added to the agriculture sector if these technologies were meeting producer demand,” Nelson said. “However, an important thing to realize, too, is that these estimations are illustrating more for policy makers and educating them on some of these amazing technologies that are helping producers today.”
The livestock sector, according to Nelson, holds the biggest potential economic gain from full implementation of rural broadband.
“Livestock and dairies stand to benefit the most with about $20.7 billion added annually to this sector,” she said. “Row crops stands to benefit about $13.7 billion annually. This is mainly yield improvement and reduced costs by limiting the number of inputs put on the fields.”
The report also provides a plan moving forward.
“This is something that the administration has talked about. It’s definitely on a lot of people’s minds,” Nelson said. “Probably the most important part of this USDA report is their strategic action plan. They’re outlining some of the key priorities, which is full broadband deployment in addition to creating an environment for these innovations to be created.”