USDA is giving another boost to rural broadband.
“We’re building a better America by ensuring our investments reach everyone, including our rural and underserved communities,” said White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu during a call with reporters. “Rural communities are the backbone of our nation but for too long they have been left behind and they have been underrecognized.”
The USDA is providing $759 million to bring high-speed internet access to people living and working across 24 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Palau. The investments include funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $65 billion to expand reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S.
“Obviously, the farms benefit to the extent if that they are using any form of precision agriculture, the ability to have access to the internet is also going to give them the ability to properly market their grain or whatever it is that they’re buying or selling on that particular day,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “At the end of the day, it is essential to the capacity of folks to succeed in today’s world.”
The $759 million in loans and grants comes from the third funding round of the ReConnect Program.
“People living in rural towns across the nation need high-speed internet to run their businesses, go to school and connect with their loved ones,” Vilsack said. “USDA partners with small towns, local utilities and cooperatives, and private companies to increase access to high-speed internet so people in rural America have the opportunity to build brighter futures.”
USDA is making 49 awards in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Puerto Rico, Guam and Palau. This list includes awards to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and the utility authorities for the Navajo Nation and the Tohono O’odham Nation. Many of the awards will help rural people and businesses on Tribal lands.
In 2022, the Department has announced $1.6 billion from the third round of ReConnect funding.
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.