Even in this digital age, not all U.S. farmers are able to use the internet in their operations. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Image by Scharfsinn/DepositPhotos
While it may seem like everyone is always online these days, nearly a quarter of U.S. farmers don’t have internet access. That’s according to the latest Census of Agriculture data, which shows the biggest lag in internet access is in the southeastern states.
More than 21 percent of farm operations or operator residences are without internet access, according to the 2022 census. That is a three percent change from the 2017 Census of Agriculture, which showed that more than 24 percent of farmers were without internet at that time. Even those with connectivity in rural America may not have adequate internet service for precision agriculture needs.
An FCC task force recommends a minimum performance of 100 megabits per second for downloading and 20 megabits per second for uploading to support precision agriculture.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land Of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.