By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostMissouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins tells a
Congressional hearing many farmers are using the Internet to grow their
operations while others are stuck in the past, because they have no broadband
access.Hawkins gives members of Congress a slice of life story to
illustrate how access works and doesn’t work in rural America.“There are farmers who have access to high-speed Internet who
are clearly at the head of the curve in terms of adopting cutting edge technology,”
Hawkins tells members of a subcommittee of the U.S. House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee in Washington, D.C. “Then you have folks like my
grandfather growing up that still use the spiral bound shirt pocket notebook
that would do his data collection in that notebook and then crunch the numbers
on back of a Post Toasties box.”Hawkins says too many rural residents don’t want to use the
Post Toasties box, but don’t have access to the latest technology.Hawkins says rural America needs a reliable connection to the
Internet to meet the needs of a changing society.“Broadband connectivity is critical in stimulating and
revitalizing the rural economy,” Hawkins testifies. “It’s essential to modern
agriculture, the farmers and ranchers who grow our food, and the quality of
life for those of us who live and work in rural America.”Hawkins, who is from Appleton City, says he sees the need for
broadband access every day in Missouri.“One family I know operates a soil lab with customers
worldwide. Until recently, they struggled to find an affordable, reliable
broadband service. They were paying hundreds of dollars a month for sub-par
Internet. However, with broadband investments made in Missouri, they now have
reliable service at the farm and at the lab, which has boosted their global
business.”Hawkins calls access to high-speed Internet the “thread of
life” to rural America.Hawkins says farmers need broadband access.“Last month, I visited a fellow farmer in southern Missouri
who was thrilled to see a fiber optic line being installed a few miles from
this farm,” Hawkins says. “His comment to me was, maybe they’ll come my way in
a year or so.”Hawkins says expansion of rural broadband access isn’t just an
economic issue. He says it is vital to the educational needs of rural America
as well as for the health of its residents. Hawkins says as doctors leave rural
America, residents rely more and more on telemedicine, which isn’t possible
without a reliable Internet connection.

Missouri Farm Bureau President tells Congress rural America needs broadband