Rural Development (USDA )

The US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is accepting applications under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program for fiscal year (FY) 2024, subject to the availability of funding. Based on FY 2023 appropriated funding, RUS estimates that approximately $60 million will be available for FY 2024. Successful applications will be selected for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available through appropriations.

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced the latest window to receive applications for Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) Program support to extend broadband networks in rural areas.

During a visit to Edgecombe County, NC, a Rural Partners Network community, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced that USDA is funding 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands to bring high-speed internet, clean water, state-of-the-art infrastructure and economic growth to rural communities as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda. USDA is investing in $51.7 million to expand access to high-speed internet for people in rural areas across the country thr

Through the implementation of two Executive Orders on equity and President Joe Biden's Investing in America Agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to advance opportunity and make real the promise of America for everyone.  In the rural South and dense 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is marking the end of 2023 by highlighting on-the-ground projects and partnerships that are building economic prosperity for farmers, families, and communities nationwide.

The Biden Administration recently announced the designation of 31 ‘tech hubs,’ areas intended to become hotbeds of innovation, across the United States. The more than two-dozen new tech hubs will ‘have the tools they need to compete on a global scale,’ including Economic Development Administration funding opportunities and access to a range of technical assistance from agencies such as the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, and the Small Business Administration. According to Eric Smith, the Tech Hubs Program Director at the Department of Commerce’s Economic Develop

The Federal Communications Commission renewed the charter of the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States (the Task Force) for a period expiring on January 1, 2025. The purpose of the Task Force is to:

The Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States finds that access to broadband infrastructure is not readily available in rural America, despite it having become a fundamental necessity. The Task Force seeks to address these gaps with recommendations that advise the federal government on ways it can improve access to reliable, scalable, and low latency broadband access, specifically on rural and agricultural lands.

RiverStreet Networks, a sister company of rural provider Wilkes Communications, has received a $191.1 million loan from CoBank that will go, in part, to refinance legacy US Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service financing and, in part, to deploy fiber broadband in rural areas of North Carolina and Virginia.

President Biden signed an extension to the Farm Bill as part of a new appropriations package aimed at averting a government shutdown. Executives from NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association and WTA—Advocates for Rural Broadband  Executives from NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association and WTA—Advocates for Rural Broadband explained that the bill authorizes US Department of Agriculture to continue to operate broadband programs included in the 2018 Farm Bill through September 2024.