Rural Concerns for Next Farm Bill

Hearings are underway for the next Farm Bill.

One of the areas of concern is broadband internet in rural areas, as noted by Dennis Chastain from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

“For business applications in rural America, broadband is going to be increasingly important. I have worked most of my career in economic development trying to recruit industry into rural Georgia and it is a challenge when there is inadequate broadband to get companies who work on a global platform to be able to locate in some of these communities.”

More testimony noted that broadband internet has become as crucial for rural infrastructure as roads and freight access.