Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 4881, the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018.

Access to broadband internet service is essential for participating in modern American life for both individuals and businesses. Farmers are no different. For them, a reliable, high-speed internet connection has become a necessity for managing their businesses efficiently. Farmers use it to collect realtime data on crops, buy equipment, verify weather forecasts, and check grain and feed prices.

Studies estimate that the use of broadband in precision agriculture can increase crop yields by 70 percent by the year 2050 and significantly reduce operation costs. Yet many people living in this country still do not have reliable high-speed internet service.

The Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 would help facilitate the deployment of broadband to agricultural land by establishing a task force, led by the Federal Communication Commission in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture. The task force will identify and measure gaps in the availability of broadband on agricultural lands.

It will also develop policy recommendations to promote the rapid expanded deployment of broadband on unserved agricultural lands and promote effective policy and regulatory solutions to encourage the adoption of broadband on farms and ranches.

Moreover, the task force will recommend specific steps that the FCC should take to obtain reliable and standardized data on the availability of broadband and make sure that such data is reflected in future FCC broadband infrastructure programs.

H.R. 4881 is a bipartisan, commonsense bill, and I want to thank the authors, Mr. Loebsack and Mr. Latta, for the very hard work they have put into this measure. I urge my colleagues to support it today.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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