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The nation has seen its total number of farmers and farmland decrease over the past five years and advocates for smaller producers in South Dakota said new data indicates more challenges for farming communities. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Census of Agriculture. ...
By Will Wright for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Illinois News Connection reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration As the federal government distributes $42.5 billion to expand broadband internet access across America and its territories, some local leaders are asking themselves: How much economic impact could faster internet create? The true dollar figure would be spread across the economy, from agriculture and small businesses to harder-to-track impacts like an increased willingness for families to relocate to rural areas. But a report by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society estimates that, across 15 agricultural counties in Illinois, faster internet speeds could boost production of corn and soybeans by over $100 million annually. The report argues that faster internet will allow farmers to more precisely plant, fertilize and harvest crops — a method called “precision agriculture.” In areas with slow internet speeds, the ability to utilize precision agriculture methods are more limited, the report says. A tool included in the report provides estimates of increased corn and soybean revenue in each of the 15 counties. In Bond County, Illinois, the model estimates the county could have boosted corn and soybean production by a combined $4.8 million in 2021 if they had expanded broadband internet access. The model relies on a paper that compares crop production data and internet speeds from 2007, 2012 and 2017, to see if better internet leads to increased farm output. ...
Farmers who produce the food we eat don't always own the land that food is grown on, including in Wisconsin. Those trying to get their operations off the ground are being given tools to ensure more certainty about where they can do the work. More than one-third of Wisconsin farmland is leased, according to federal data. ...
McLean County needs residents' help securing funds to expand broadband wglt.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wglt.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
While recent rains have provided some welcome relief for the parched Central Illinois landscape, area growers are still grappling with effects of drought that several describe as the worst they've