Posted: 08.16.2011

The next time you grab your smart phone - or google something - don't take the opportunity for granted.

A new survey just completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that there's still quite a few farmers nationwide that still don't have access to the internet.

Dale Hawks, one of the team members at the National Ag Statistical Service that pulled the latest data together says that in 2011 - 62 percent of the nation's farms have internet access.  Hawks says the larger the operation - the more likely they are to use computers and the internet in day-to-day operations generally. 

Hawks also says that in many rural areas - internet access is still a major problem.  Their survey found that there's still 12 percent of growers that are still accessing the internet via dial-up service on their phone.  That can compromise not only the speed with which growers get information - but also limit growers to websites that only provide minimum graphics.

USDA says the 62 percent of growers that are using the internet is a substantial improvement over when they began the survey back in 1997. At that time only 13 percent of all farmers had any access to the internet at all.

Broadband availability is expected to be one of the topics discussed today during a rural forum with farmers at the Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta. President Barack Obama and U.S. Ag Secretary, Tom Vilsack, are hosting a White House Rural Economic Forum to announce new initiatives to help the rural sector grow.

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