USDA Secretary Prioritizes Broadband Technology for America’s Farmland

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Today U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made “rural broadband for e-connectivity”  a top infrastructure priority for America’s farms.

 “Precision agriculture technologies are growing in popularity for their ability to improve farm management decisions, for increasing production and reducing input costs,”

  Perdue testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on March 14, 2017. “Modern farming technologies include precision planting, fertilizing, spraying, and irrigation.”

We at ISCA Technologies are now preparing for the e-connected farm. We are developing several technologies supported by USDA grants that take advantage of digital, GPS, cellular,and Wi-Fi technologies to control pests with environmentally friendly methods to prevent crop loses, increase yields, and cut operational costs.

These innovations include remotely operated insect monitors that immediately alert farmers when a threatening pest has arrived in a field. We also are developing the use of drones to deploy nontoxic insect pheromones that control pest insects by preventing them from mating, among other control strategies that use naturally-occurring compounds to manipulate insect behavior.

 We applaud the USDA’s effort to foster e-connectivity in America’s farmlands.