This video will be on the website and embedded in with the story I wrote for the Columbia Missourian.
JEFFERSON CITY- Kelly Forck works with the land. But for his business to succeed, he relies on the cloud.
Forck and other farmers rely on internet access for up to date information on everything from crop prices to wind patterns. Data stored in online cloud-based servers allows for detailed soil analysis.
Forck, is a farmer who produces corn, soybeans and raises commercial cattle, is able to monitor his irrigation system from miles away using his iPad. He can also manage his grain in storage.
“We do that because the computer, for one, can do a better job than what we can do as humans,” Forck said.
Experts say that Missouri farmers need high-speed internet access to remain competitive in an increasingly technology-reliant field. But studies have shown that about 60 percent of rural Missourians lack broadband access.
Such access allows farmers to operate efficiently and provide the food that Missouri and the nation relies on, said Chris Chinn, the director for the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
"Our world population continues to grow," Chinn said. "So it's more important than ever that farmers have all the tools.”
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I worked on a long-form story about broadband access for the agriculture industry for the Columbia Missourian. It is important to cover this because the Missouri Governor and lawmakers are advocating for broadband expansion. My goal was to research the need for internet access with famers, if there was one. This story included a text piece and explanatory video put on the website.
How farmers use internet
In the past farmers would make phone calls to find out what they could sell their crops for, but now, with internet it is much more simple. With a click of a button or tap on an iPad, farmers can get this information at the tips of their fingers.
"Markets are changing by the second nowadays, so having internet that's fast, keeps the farmer updated," Chinn said.
Forck agreed. "We can check markets for multiple locations from one single source versus making multiple calls," Forck said.
The internet helps these local farmers stay competitive as an industry in a competitive market. Todd Lorenz is an agriculture specialist for MU extension in Cooper County. He said internet gives farmers the opportunity to know the current markets without waiting to hear it on the radio.
"Being able to make those cash-based decisions, in a very efficient manner, makes it more competitive globally," Lorenz said.
The internet can also help those in the agriculture industry track insects and diseases.
"They need to be aware that an insect or a disease is persistent in coming across the state," Lorenz said. "They need that information in a timely manner.”
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New technologies
The types of technology farmers use today have developed tremendously since the 1990s.
While farmers are on their tractors or combines cutting the crops, they have technology that can map out which parts of the fields did better than others. They use GPS to make this happen.
In a field, each part needs different nutrients to produce the best crops possible. Farmers have technology that can test different parts of the field to see what nutrients the field lacks. Using a GPS system, these results are mapped out and put into the cloud. From here, they download the data to their computer and analyze it to see which seeds they want to buy and what to add to the soil.
Not only can farmers map out fields and analyze soil samples, but internet access allows them to control machines remotely.
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The cost of slow internet
But doing so relies on broadband access that many Missouri farmers don't have, or that is badly unreliable. Sometimes his machines will malfunction in the middle of a field, and Forck will need to access technical manuals online. If the there is not good internet, he will need to go out of his way to find internet access.
"We need to find a top of a hill, or climb on top of a piece of machinery to access internet. Or we may move closer to an area where we know we can capture wifi or something to capture internet throughout the day," Forck said.
If none of that is possible, Forck must do it the old-fashioned way.
"There's a cost of doing business whenever we have to travel to those sites and manually turn that equipment on and off or just do a testing procedure," Forck said.
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Bringing future generations back
"The one thing that most farmers want to do is bring their kids back home to that farm to be the sixth or the seventh generation farming," Chinn said.
She says investing in good internet access will help encourage them to work on their family farms farm.
"Our kids today, they love the technology," Chinn said. "So if we really want to bring that next generation back home, we have to have the ability to improve our family farms and keep up with the technology that's out there and available to us."
Forck said he thinks kids are more attracted to the technological aspects of farming than the mechanical side of it.
"If we had those internet resources out, it would allow us to maybe someday the kids come back to the farm, maybe we would have a product that we would want to internet market,” Forck said.
So how can Missouri get broadband to farmers?
Sen. Blunt and Gov. Eric Greitens have advocated for broadband expansion in rural communities. Chinn said there is not a one size-fits-all solution to bring high-speed internet to Missouri farmers.
"I know some areas are looking at rural telephone companies meeting that need, or electrical co-ops meeting those needs," Chinn said.
She admitted funding is an issue and said some solutions may include looking for low interest loans or grants that smaller companies can apply for.
"It’s going to be a lot of people coming together to be a part of that conversation to look for those funds to help get us across the finish line," Chinn said.
Internet access in Missouri
Farmers struggle with broadband access
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