The pandemic has highlighted the need for more rural broadband, and it may be in way you have not thought of.
Oregon and Washington are among the states holding their current legislative session remotely, and ag groups in the northwest say that they have been left out of the process. The President of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association says that staying connected on his rural farm is not only hard but pricey.
“I have to do everything wirelessly, and I have data allocations that are limited on a monthly basis, and so it makes it even more difficult for me to access the internet and participate in a Zoom meeting,” Tom Sharp states.
He says that they will have no face-to-face conversations with lawmakers or decision makers this season. The group also had to cancel its Commodity Days at the Oregon state capitol.
