WASHINGTON, D.C. – High-speed internet has revolutionized farming. When is it going to rain? Bring up an app. What are the grain prices? Bring up an app. Want to track your spraying? Bring up an app. According to a USDA report, “Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, 2017,” 29 percent of U.S. farms currently do not have access to the internet.

The past two presidential administrations have attempted to change this by putting rural broadband at the front and center of their campaigns. They have recognized that in the present day, the ability to access high-speed internet is just as important as being able to access highways and railways. States have also been pursuing their own individual legislation to bring the high-speed internet across the country to rural areas. Now, a quest to achieve the goal could carry a price tag of up to $150 billion of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, according to a recent Congressional hearing with internet industry officials.

While the price will vary depending on how it is carried throughout the country – fiber optic vs. wireless – all involved in the hearing stated that access to high-speed internet is as very important for the future of agriculture.

“It’s essential we act to finally close the digital divide that has kept so many of our rural communities from reaching their full potential,” said House Agriculture chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) in his opening statement.

While price estimates in the hearing ranged from $60-$80 billion for Microsoft’s Airband initiative – which relies on the unused broadcast frequencies between TV channels to deliver wireless broadband – to $150 billion from the Indiana-based Wabash Heartland Innovation Network, all executives concurred that optical fiber was the best route to maintain level coverage throughout the country.

The Federal Communications Commission’s minimum standard for broadband is 25/3, or 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed. The USDA’s grant-and-loan ReConnect Program, which was created in 2018, facilitates deployment of broadband in areas with service below 10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream.

In Biden’s first address to Congress, he again reiterated the need to bring high-speed internet to rural communities to keep agriculture producing at its peak level. He tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to spearhead the effort.

“It creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed internet, including 35 percent of rural America that still doesn’t have it,” the president said. “It’s going to help our kids and our businesses succeed in the 21st century economy.”

In an April 27 American Farm Bureau Federation podcast, Emily Buckman, the organization’s congressional relations director, agreed. “We’ve heard the phrase multiple times, broadband is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. And the pandemic made that even more evident as we had to shift to working remotely, children having to do homework from home and then even having our doctor’s appointments done via telehealth. Rural broadband is essential for modern agriculture, the farmers and ranchers who grow our food and to the quality of life for rural Americans.”