Rural High-Speed Internet Access Offers Financial Benefits

(WASHINGTON, DC) As the world grows more technologically dependent and driven, access to reliable, high-speed internet is a top priority for agriculture and rural areas. According to USDA’s Farm Computer Usage and Ownership report, 75 percent of farms have access to the internet and 73 percent have access to a desktop or laptop computer. Farmers and ranchers are increasingly reliant on smartphones or tablets to conduct farm business, with 52 percent of farms surveyed reporting they do so, an increase of eight percentage points since 2017. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, agriculture is an increasingly technology-driven field and farmers and ranchers access to computers to conduct business are exceedingly important. The report shows that nearly half (49 percent) of farms in the U.S. use a desktop or laptop computer to conduct farm business. Computer usage for farmers ranges from a low of 30 percent in New Mexico to a high of 72 percent in Colorado. On-farm smartphone/tablet use has increased over the past two years as 52 percent of all farms rely on mobile access and usage. About one-quarter of farms are utilizing access to purchase inputs like seed, feed, fertilizer, and chemicals, while one in five use these tools for marketing activities. USDA estimates market coordination efforts, particularly in regard to direct-to-consumer sales, could spur a $6.4 billion gross annual benefit to the specialty crop industry, with $3.2 billion attributable to the use of the internet alone.