Broadband expansion gives farmers a boost

VALE — The economics and technology of farming are getting a boost in Western North Carolina through expansion of rural broadband infrastructure. The expansion is supported by state and federal dollars, along with private investment and demand from rural consumers.

One of the consumers who has pushed for better access to quality broadband is Jerry Wyant, a farmer in Vale. His multi-generational farm was the site of a broadband internet expansion discussion that brought state and local leaders along with executives from one of the largest internet service providers in the country to Lincoln County in December.

Wyant’s farming approach blends traditional practices with modern technology, a combination that has become increasingly vital with the recent push for broadband expansion in rural areas. Over the years, he has expanded his land by 200 acres, practicing no-till farming on the entire 1,800 acres. This method not only conserves topsoil and reduces erosion but also boosts crop yields. Wyant’s commitment to improving in all areas of his operation were cited when Sunbelt Ag Expo named Wyant North Carolina 2023 Farmer of the Year.

“The culture is changing so much, and you’ve got to look towards modernization,” said Wyant in an interview with North State Journal. “We’ve got a grain bin system. We used to have to stay there 24 hours a day, watching it and now everything’s automated.”

Demand for more bandwidth and higher quality access has prompted Spectrum to continue to build its fiber-optic network. The company has a five-billion-dollar Rural Digital Opportunity Fund for unserved rural communities. The project is partly offset by $1.2 billion in federal dollars. According to Spectrum, the company’s expansion will provide broadband access to 1.3 million customer locations across 24 states in the coming years. Spectrum has also won more than $700 million in state broadband expansion subsidies.

“We’ve been able to take federal dollars and really maximize them by partnering with our private sector partners, which has been great because it means that we can deploy so much faster,” said Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), who attended the event on the Wyant farm.

Spectrum’s buildouts in Lincoln County will connect more than 500 homes and small businesses.

Wyant uses a system on his farm called Climate Field View, a cutting-edge data integration and analysis system that manages various aspects of his farm conditions. “We’ve got a lot of modern technology we use in agriculture,” said Wyant. “We have Climate, it measures the rain fall, we’ve got every field that we farm, numbered, and it tells how much rain that falls on it.”

These news systems require the bandwidth that some rural areas in North Carolina do not yet have. “No matter what you’re doing, as we sit stand at this farm, Jerry and Linda had told me many times they come to Raleigh and advocate, hey, we really need broadband out where we live,” said Saine. “And they’re not just talking about themselves. They’re talking about other farmers and other people in the agriculture industry, and families too, that live out here.”

Wyant and his wife, Linda, have been asking state and local leaders for help. “Right now Spectrum is running lines up here and we certainly are overjoyed about having it because we’ve got GPS over our sprayer, and we get some places we don’t have any signal and it’s aggravating,” said Wyant. “My wife, she’s been working on Jason Saine for three years to get this done. And he called her one night and said, Spectrum’s coming and they’re going to be here before Christmas.”

Spectrum says it will continue to expand broadband in rural areas but also across the state. “We have a great product and service, and we price our services the same across the whole state, regardless of whether it’s in an area where we’re bringing broadband out as part of a grant program, or if it’s in a part of our regular business where we’re already currently at,” said Brian Gregory, Vice President of State Government Affairs at Spectrum. “We operate in roughly 80 counties now. After we get through all these grant programs, we’ll probably be in 90-plus counties.”

Gregory said the company is actively looking for underserved areas to facilitate more access for farmers along with other businesses and households. “We’re going across the state looking for these areas where there’s unserved areas and we’re trying to get high speed broadband out there,” he said.

Wyant says the additional access will allow his farm and others to be more productive, environmentally conscious, and connected to the global agricultural community. “We want to see Spectrum here. We need the internet,” he added.

PJ Ward-Brown of North State Journal contributed to this article.