Swisher Valley Farms Owner Keith Swisher finds the lack of dependable high-speed internet service to be an extreme nuisance and the lack of streaming video on his farm limits his family's ability to conduct tasks like equipment repair that would otherwise be routine for a farmer who is able to stream how-to videos with their available broadband. Virginia's BARC Electric Cooperative leads the way in the Lexington, Va. area installing fiber optic cables to the existing electrical grid, which will bring dependable high-speed broadband to the area for the first time. Rural areas where business and
Swisher Valley Farms Owner Keith Swisher finds the lack of dependable high-speed internet service to be an extreme nuisance and the lack of streaming video on his farm limits his family's ability to conduct tasks like equipment repair that would otherwise be routine for a farmer who is able to stream how-to videos with their available broadband. Virginia's BARC Electric Cooperative leads the way in the Lexington, Va. area installing fiber optic cables to the existing electrical grid, which will bring dependable high-speed broadband to the area for the first time. Rural areas where business and residential consumers use broadband service are more likely to enjoy higher incomes, lower unemployment rates and stronger growth than those without broadband. Because broadband offers rural areas connectivity to business, education, health care and other services necessary for economic growth, it is rapidly becoming indispensable in all sectors of the economy. Rural electric co-operatives across the country are increasingly involved in rural broadband deployment. There is growing concern about the lingering urban-rural broadband divide and who will work to deliver broadband to rural communities. USDA
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Keywords: agriculture, communities, department, farming, food, forestry, horticulture, lexington, outdoor, pursuits, rural, states, united, usda, va
