Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN) has brought forth a bill that directs the FCC to incorporate USDA farm field location data into the national broadband map. Rural broadband helps even the playing field between urban and rural life.
She introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4950 – the Data BRIDGE Act – to improve how the FCC’s broadband map accounts for agricultural lands. Today, barns and other farming structures located across the rural countryside are included in the FCC’s broadband map, but the surrounding cropland, pastures, and acreage where farming happens are not.
The Data BRIDGE Act directs the FCC to integrate USDA’s existing cultivated land data layer into its broadband map, with no new cost or mandates, ensuring federal broadband funding “reaches the fields that power America’s food supply.”
“Our farmers depend on reliable broadband to stay competitive in a modern economy,” writes Houchin in a statement to Farm Journal. “The Data BRIDGE Act is a commonsense, low-cost solution that ensures federal broadband investments actually reach the fields, pastures and production areas where work happens. I have fought for years to expand rural broadband, and this bill is another important step toward closing the connectivity gap for our farm families and rural communities.”
Here is a link to the proposed bill at Congress.gov. The bill has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It would need to be voted on and passed by both the House and the Senate before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. The President could then veto the bill or sign it into law.
The bill currently has seven cosponsors, including four House Democrats and three Republicans. Contact your local Congressional representative and ask them to support H.R. 4950 if you would like the bill to become U.S. law.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Anything that would help improve broadband service to rural areas is something worth considering. A few years ago, I was tasked with helping an organization assess the gap between rural and urban areas as it relates to broadband coverage. Part of the assignment was what can or should be done to correct any discrepancies. It was shocking to learn just how wide the gap was. In fact, one of the highest demands for expanded broadband coverage was, in fact, agriculture. At the time only medical facilities had a greater demand. Unfortunately, most buildout models are based almost entirely on population density. That explains a great deal of the problem. If this legislation could help in any way to overcome that gap, then I’m all for it.
Most farms/ranches today have some form of connectivity, but many lack the speed and bandwidth to handle all the data generated from various operations on the farm, not to mention timely analysis of that data for meaningful and speedy decision making. Don’t let that inhibit you from sharing information about CAD and all the programs you offer via your website or by text. Marketing to farmers/ranchers can be very rewarding if done strategically.
