Want Next Generation Precision Agriculture? You'll Need Rural Broadband.

On April 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled A Case for Rural Broadband: Insights on Rural Broadband Infrastructure and Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technologies.This latest chapter in the Trump Administration’s American Broadband Initiative finds that the deployment of broadband networks and adoption of new agricultural technologies could result in approximately $47–$65 billion annually in additional gross benefit for the US economy. Until now, the interdependency between broadband and next-generation precision agriculture technologies has not been evaluated. The report “explores this symbiotic relationship and quantifies the potential economic benefit of broadband buildout and the complementary adoption of connected agriculture technologies.”