The U.S. Senate on Dec. 6 approved a bipartisan bill cosponsored by U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) that would establish a federal task force to identify current gaps in the nation’s availability of broadband Internet access service on agricultural lands and recommend policies to expand its deployment.
“Farmers and ranchers need dependable access to broadband in order to take full advantage of the wide range of these agriculture technology products,” said Sen. Hoeven, chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. “Our legislation will help identify gaps in coverage and ensure we enact solutions to address problem areas.”
The Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018, S. 2343, sponsored on Jan. 25 by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), would require the Federal Communications Commission to establish the task force, which would be comprised of public and private-sector members, according to a congressional record summary.
Among the 12 other senators who joined Sen. Hoeven as cosponsors of S. 2343 are U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The identical H.R. 4881, sponsored in the U.S. House by U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), has 10 cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Greg Walden (R-OR) and David Loebsack (D-IA).
The Senate-approved measure aims to improve broadband availability for precision agriculture, which Sen. Hoeven said “reduces input cost and improves yields.”
Sen. Hoeven, who also serves on the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, said the bill will accomplish the creation of a comprehensive guide of programs and resources working to achieve 95 percent coverage of croplands and ranchlands by 2025, according to a Dec. 7 statement released by his office.
The bipartisan legislation garnered support from the Agricultural Broadband Coalition, which is comprised of several members, including the Agricultural Retailers Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Soybean Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, John Deere, the Lindsay Corp., the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and the National Corn Growers, among others.