Only 21% of farmers have reliable mobile signal across their whole farm, according to a new survey conducted by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
The union’s latest digital technology survey concluded that farming businesses’ ability to meet the challenges of the future are being “held back by poor broadband and mobile connectivity”.
Less than half (48%) of the 814 farmers surveyed reported broadband speeds which they believe are adequate for their business.
One in 20 farmers reported that they have no reliable outdoor mobile-signal on their farm at all.
On the back of the survey results, the NFU is calling for the government’s Shared Rural Network to remain a priority and be finished by 2025.
Submitting VAT returns, GPS on tractors, talking to customers and “much more” all rely on strong connectivity and consistent access to the internet and are all needed by farmers to “comply with UK regulations and operate their businesses efficiently”, the union said.
NFU vice president David Exwood said: “In a time when food security is so prevalent on the government’s agenda, we need to produce more of what we do well here.
“This means being as efficient and productive as possible, and access to the internet is vital for businesses to do this.
“Even with the positive increase in access to superfast broadband for over a third of respondents, it is unacceptable that four out of five of farmers do not have reliable mobile signals throughout their farm.”
Lack of access
Exwood said that this lack of signal and reliable broadband impacts the day-to-day running of rural businesses, as well as sometimes leaving a farmer with no way of communicating in “a time of crisis”.
10% of farmers surveyed remain without access to both 4G and 5G, and almost a fifth (18%) have broadband speeds of less than 2MB/s (megabytes/second).
Exwood said that this “lack of access” is preventing UK farmers and growers from “doing what they do best”, which is producing homegrown, climate-friendly and affordable food.
“Our results show that we need a really concentrated effort from the government and telecommunications industry to reach the most remote areas still without coverage if we want to achieve the Shared Rural Network’s aim to deliver 4G connectivity across the UK by 2025,” he said.
“While the introduction of 5G to some rural areas is encouraging, as it supports the introduction of new technologies and more productive business practices on farm, this year’s survey shows that connectivity is only increasingly slowly, and the farming industry is still lagging significantly behind the rest of the country.
“We will continue to campaign for investment in the country’s digital technology infrastructure – which is key to productive farming businesses – on top of our asks for proper training and appropriate schemes for farmers and growers so they can meet their huge potential in helping to tackle climate change and deliver on our net-zero ambitions.”
