Without a reliable digital connection, American farmers cannot fully embrace the new tools and technologies allowing producers to meet the needs and demands of tomorrow, according to the Association of Equipment Manufactures.  The organization said now is the time for lawmakers, organizations, and other to come together to close the connectivity gap that exists across much of rural America.  Curt Blades, AEM senior vice president said a lot of attention has been placed on the digital divide, thanks to the pandemic.

 

“There’s a lot of money being poured into this, a lot of attention being poured into it.  What we as the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and others like us have been doing is communicating to anyone that listens that rural connectivity is not just to the anchor institutions of schoolhouses and libraries and even farmhouses.  It needs to be wireless and field.”

 

Blades added that message is getting across, and more and more people from the non-farming community are starting to get it.  But there’s still a lot of work to do.

 

“There is obviously a food security issue, there's a national security issue, there's an environmental issue and all of these things come to play together around agriculture and that helps tell that story.  And I'll tell you the those that are not involved in farming are quickly paying attention and most of that attention has been positive.”

 

 

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