Experts Discuss Agricultural Technology Needs in Rural America during Small Business Committee Hearing

The Small Business Committee held a hearing in early January, entitled "Farming in the 21st Century: The Impacts of Agriculture Technology in Rural America," to evaluate the role of technology in addressing challenges faced by farmers across the country. Currently, rural communities suffer as small and mid size farms are unable to compete with large scale operations. Increasing input costs, strained water resources, plateauing crop yields, and less predictable weather patterns are making it difficult for farms to remain soluble, and discouraging young people interested in the profession. New agriculture technology has been developed to overcome these challenges, but most small and mid size farms do not have the capital or resources to obtain that technology. 

Many farmers manually track critical data such as water flow, soil moisture, crop water use, and plant health; a labor-intensive task which often results in large error margins. During the hearing, expert witnesses expressed support for cutting edge technology that allows for the collection of data in real time, reducing costs and environmental impact while increasing precision and crop yield. The panelists noted, however, that this technology requires reliable and fast internet connection. A lack of broadband access in rural communities is the biggest barrier to new agricultural technology adoption, followed by lack of capital to finance these technologies. 

There was an additional consensus that diversified crop planting can increase soil quality and resilience to environmental stressors while reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.  A more diversified agricultural system can respond to market demand for niche products more efficiently, and also provide economic opportunity for other businesses along the entire supply chain. 

The Congressmen in the hearing were primarily concerned with how they can support these small and mid size farms in the transition to a more sustainable and resilient system. Recommendations by the witnesses to Congress include:

• Establish fast and reliable internet access in rural areas
• Increased funding and grants for small to mid- size farms to implement new technology and methods
• Make grants more flexible for regional and seasonal requirements
• Improve efficiency of certification processes (e.g. organic)
• Amend section 45Q of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which provides a tax incentive for carbon sequestration to industrial or energy facilities, to include farmers to incentivize carbon sequestration in farmlands
• Increase opportunities for cooperation between tech entreprenuers and farmers

 

Author: Katherine Kneuper