Why Rural Broadband Means You Can Now Buy a Bull Online

There is a new generation who is using high-speed broadband to improve farming practices, from auctions to smart irrigation systems to political organizing. However, rural broadband is a revolution unfolding slowly and unevenly. Many farmers complain that their Internet is still too slow, and they have a point.

As a rule, rural areas have slower Internet service than cities, according to a report from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The government is trying to accelerate Internet speeds throughout the country. The 2009 economic stimulus put $7 billion toward broadband grants, and the Obama Administration is now pushing for more. Broadband comes in especially handy during harvest time, when poor weather can ravage ripened crops. When storm clouds loom, farmers like Mike Haley in West Salem, Ohio, depend upon über-local, up-to-the-minute forecasts. For farmers without a smart phone or a 4G network, or working in a distant field beyond the network’s reach, a broadband connection at the farmhouse can help preserve the harvest the same way. Social media classes have sprouted all over the country for farmers, who, like every other sentient being these days, need to build their brands. For the farmers of today, a fast Internet connection is just as important as the railroad was a century ago, connecting to farmers in the far reaches of the heartland to the rest of the world. “Higher speed Internet makes it easier for farmers to shoot and upload a picture from the pasture or field to share with the 98.5% of the population that’s not on a farm,” Michele Payn-Knoper, an Indiana farmer and ag-communications guru, explains.