The new £7 million fund aims to bring together satellite, wireless and fixed line connectivity to help farmers and businesses take advantage of the latest agricultural technologies on offer by improving the connectivity on farm.
This is in addition to a number of government pledges to boost rural digital connectivity announced within the last year, which included an £8 million grant scheme to offer internet connectivity by satellite to the most remote homes of the country, and ‘Project Gigabit’, the government’s flagship £5 billion programme to improve internet speeds in rural areas.
The new plans were formally announced at the Future Countryside Conference on 6 June 2023 by Defra Secretary of State, Thérèse Coffey.
You can read the full policy paper outlining the government’s plans to boost rural prosperity here: GOV.UK | ‘Unleashing rural opportunity’
“We have been campaigning for further investment in the country’s rural digital technology infrastructure for some time, so we welcome the government’s £7 million funding package which will help make farming businesses more productive and efficient.”
NFU Vice President David Exwood
Better connectivity, increased productivity
The new announcement comes off the back of the NFU's campaigning for better digital infrastructure in rural areas. The NFU's recent Digital Technology Survey highlighted that more than a fifth of members believe their broadband speeds are a barrier to their further use of digital technology.
Over a third of members also said that if their business had faster broadband speeds, they would use this to improve their speed, efficiency, and frequency of business tasks.
The new announcement means that there is more opportunity for businesses in remote areas to make use of new technologies for agriculture and tourism that may require internet connectivity on farm.
Commenting on the new funding package, NFU Vice President David Exwood said: “We have been campaigning for further investment in the country’s rural digital technology infrastructure for some time, so we welcome the government’s £7 million funding package which will help make farming businesses more productive and efficient.
“The NFU’s recent Digital Technology Survey revealed fewer than half of our members have broadband speeds adequate for their business needs. Fibre is often too expensive for farm businesses to install and the rollout is not happening fast enough.
“The government’s commitment to invest in alternative broadband solutions will be vital to enable farmers and growers to access good broadband speeds, regardless of where they live.
“With UK food security high on the political agenda, there is an urgent need to produce more of what we do well here. That means providing our farming businesses with the tools they require like decent broadband to enable them to meet their huge potential in producing food for the nation, helping tackle climate change and deliver on our net-zero ambitions.”
