- Big Data Fueling Iowa Farmers' Productivity
- Orlan Love, McClatchy News Service, Jul 15, 2014
Drones flying over farm fields recording high resolution images & field sensors providing real-time information on crops are among the tech tools likely to be commonplace in an era of big ag data.
- Agricultural Tech Links iPads, Tractors
- Lindsay, Illinois Technology Partnership NewsBlog, Apr 29, 2014
- Illinois tech firm brings technology to farming-- collecting and reporting data ranging from field productivity to a tractor’s levels of fuel, oil and coolant.
- Macomb Food Co-op Launches Online Marketplace
- Rich Egger, Tri States Public Radio, Aug 8, 2013
The Macomb Food Co-op plans to soon offer locally produced meats, eggs, and produce through an on-line market.
“We will be offering this service in September, hopefully. It takes six to eight weeks to get the whole system up and running,” said Jean Davenport, Macomb Food Co-op Outreach Coordinator and Americorps VISTA Volunteer through the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.
Ag Students Embrace New Broadband Technologies- Nathan Woodside, Jun 19, 2013
- The face of agriculture is changing with the advancement of internet technology, and Illinois' future farmers appear to be more than willing to embrace it.
- USDA Invites Applications for Grants to Provide Broadband Service to Remote Rural Communities
- USDA Newsroom, May 10, 2012
- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is accepting applications through the Community Connect Broadband program for grants to provide broadband service to residents of remote, rural communities.
- The Rural Broadband Evolution
- Laurence Cruz, Feb 7, 2012
- According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some 70 percent of farms with sales of at least a quarter million dollars use the Internet for farm business, and more than 40 percent of smaller farms are online too. Meanwhile, new connected technologies that use GPS guidance and satellite imagery are infiltrating farms across North America and beyond. And a growing number of farmers are using the Internet to relieve loneliness via online dating sites dedicated to the community.
- Including agriculture in the broadband plan
- Sep 1, 2011
- Illinois farmers have been taking a new approach to managing their crops, with a little innovation and a little assistance from their cell phones.
- Wabash Telephone Co-op to receive $21.8 million from the USDA for rural broadband expansion
- Aug 25, 2011
- Wabash Telephone Cooperative has been notified it will receive an Infrastructure Loan Award of approximately $21.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Service to expand rural broadband internet access. The cooperative was one of 18 recipients chosen to receive a low interest loan to provide broadband services to unserved and underserved rural communities.
- Illinois among states getting broadband funding
- Aug 23, 2011
Telecommunications companies in 16 states will be sharing more than $103 million in federal funding to help expand broadband Internet access to rural America. Illinois is a big winner with a $22 million award to Wabash Telephone Cooperative to install 777 miles of fiber-optic cable. That will affect about 2,400 of its customers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the grants and loans through its rural development office on Monday.
- Illinois Leads the Nation in USDA Broadband Investment — Investments To Spur Job Creation and Economic Opportunity in Rural America
- Apr 20, 2011
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced support for telecommunications projects in seven states to improve broadband service to rural residents and businesses. Projects selected include an $8.7 million award to the Alhambra-Grantfork Telephone Company, in Alhambra, Ill., and a $3.4 million loan to Woodhull Telephone Company, in Woodhull, Ill.