USDA Agriculture Innovation Agenda Could Spur Broadband Usage, Deployment

A new US Department of Agriculture initiative, the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, aims to align resources, programs and research to position American agriculture to better meet future global demands. Although the USDA doesn’t specifically reference broadband as one of those resources, it would seem highly likely that the initiative – if successful — could fuel broadband usage and deployment. One component of the Agriculture Innovation Agenda is "Aligning the work of customer-facing agencies and integrating innovative technologies and practices into USDA programs." Increasing agricultural productivity would almost certainly involve precision agriculture and both fixed and mobile broadband are key underpinnings of precision agriculture technology.