U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce today announced USDA has invested $41.6 million in high-speed broadband infrastructure that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for rural households and farms in Missouri and Southern Iowa. This is one of many funding announcements in the first round of USDA’s Reconnect Pilot Program investments.

“In Missouri and across the country, technology and innovation are vital to agricultural production,” Fordyce said. “Our commitment to invest in rural America cannot be achieved without addressing the digital divide our rural communities face because of a lack of high-speed broadband Internet.”

The Grand River Mutual Telephone Corporation will use ReConnect Program funding to deploy a fiber to the premises (FTTP) broadband network capable of simultaneous transmission rates of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or greater. The funded service areas include 2,288 households, 17 businesses and 39 farms. The project will facilitate more access to services and information for local residents, and it will improve the overall quality of life for people in the community.