ISPs Look to Precision Agriculture to Expand Rural Reach

Expanding rural broadband coverage and adoption of precision agriculture technologies require "sustained engagement from government officials, service providers, innovators, investors, farmers and ranchers," a USDA spokesperson emailed last week. "All hands are needed to help our nation close the digital divide and catalyze the potential economic revolution of the next generation agriculture."

Agricultural businesses are big users of broadband, said Andy Klinnert, director-network operations for rural ISP Arvig. Some of the larger farm enterprises work with the phone company's business system delivery group, which can provide networking across a property, with fiber to the home, garages and shops, and Wi-Fi in fields. Applications range from tracking automated milking systems to YouTube access for mechanics who watch videos on how to repair multimillion-dollar harvesting combines. Arvig has been working with agriculture clients for some time because of its rural service territory, and Klinnert expects precision agriculture will continue to be a growth business due to the amount of broadband that farms will require.

"Government, precision agriculture equipment manufacturers and broadband providers need to focus their energy because it's such a big opportunity," said Tom Larsen, Mediacom senior vice president-government and public relations. He said each IoT-capable piece of farming equipment can be considered a potential location to be served. "There are many more serviceable locations than just the barn or the farm building," but "we're a long way from getting there." His cable operator doesn't find it hard to identify farms to target as clients, he said. "We know where they are. Typically, they surround the areas we already serve."

Larsen would like to see more spectrum open up for precision agriculture use, and he said citizens band radio service spectrum is well suited to fixed wireless for capacity and distance reasons. When federal or state governments focus support on rural broadband, he said, they should "be cognizant of which types of technology will serve the farm." He noted fixed wireless works well in many agricultural settings but hasn't always been subsidized in rural broadband programs.

Farming 'Toolbox'

Other cable operators see precision agriculture opportunities for their services, too. Midco is focused on finding the "best tool in the toolbox" to deliver connectivity to farming clients, said Justin Forde, senior director-government relations for the cable ISP, noting different precision agriculture technologies would be best served by different types of connections. He said he has seen some farmers use cellular to move data, but 5G cell towers have to be so close together that it's not practical in rural America, at least under the current technology. Midco uses fixed wireless spectrum to deliver broadband from nearby water towers or grain elevators in town to a client's farmhouse for use in IoT applications where it wouldn't be practical to connect by fiber, such as to monitor water pumps and grain dryers. Forde said it won't be cost effective, ever, to run wireline technology to every inch of farmland, or every field.

Midco is helping to test technology and provide connectivity to the Grand Farm in Fargo, North Dakota; its goal is to become the first fully autonomous farm within the next three years, said Forde. Once agriculture equipment is capable of making instant decisions on behalf of farmers, he said, "You'll see a leap forward" in precision agriculture.

Companies are still trying to decide how to best deliver fixed wireless connectivity to moving targets such as when a combine moves across a field, said Larsen. Wi-Fi can also be challenging for very large farms or where topography can block signals. Much of the tech used on moving farm equipment today is cellular or GPS based, Larsen said, but that's "a very expensive way to get data, and it's not super-efficient."

Tech Neutrality

Stakeholders think any policy should be technology-neutral. That means it's not just about fiber.

Hughes Network Systems thinks satellite should be a key consideration in any government program on rural broadband access, said Mark Wymer, vice president-strategy and distribution. With some farms many thousands of acres, he said, they're not likely to be served by terrestrial infrastructure everywhere. "Think of us as the backhaul to data in helping farmers" achieve higher yields, he said.

"It's very typical for government to be completely myopic, thinking only of fiber," said Robert Bell, Society of Satellite Professionals International executive director. Though satellite historically has had latency challenges, that may not be a concern for agriculture uses not considered time sensitive, said Bell: "Plants don't grow that fast."

FCC commissioners across the political divide support efforts to expand broadband to farm lands. Commissioner Brendan Carr and his staff regularly tweet about his rural visits.

Agencies' Role

FCC and USDA representatives said their agencies are playing a role. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's focus has been to expand broadband to "the hardest to reach places around the country, and precision ag is one of the applications that will continue to benefit from buildout to unserved areas," he said in a statement. "I commend Commissioner Carr for his work on this issue and for pushing to advance the needed policies." O'Rielly supports the FCC precision agriculture task force and "any effort to gather on the ground expertise" and looks forward to recommendations from the panel "in due course."

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel rode a tractor during a visit to a farm near Dyersville, Iowa, she tweeted earlier this month. She "got the chance to see up close and in person how precision agriculture can revolutionize farming," she emailed. "I saw such incredible innovation -- from real-time monitoring of every inch of the soil to connected tractors that know exactly where and how much fertilizer is required in the field." The innovations require more broadband access in rural America, Rosenworcel said. "On that score, the FCC has real work to do."

USDA "received a tremendous response" to its ReConnect program, which had staggering application windows through July 12, a spokesperson emailed. It received over $1.4 billion in requests for grants, loan/grant combinations, and loans; $600 million was available. USDA held six workshops across the country to help prospective applicants, it said.

NTCA held a panel with USDA staff on ReConnect at the group's spring conference, said Laura Withers, vice president-strategic communications. Some members serve big agriculture customers, and others are investigating how to expand into the space, she noted. She said some members are exploring challenges of delivering service to customers contiguous to areas they serve or even a few hours away.