Ag Outlook Highlights Challenges to Rural Broadband, Ag Transportation

In with the new, onward with the old -- that is the unique challenge facing rural America's infrastructure needs. On the one hand, rural citizens and agricultural communities are suffering for lack of reliable, high-speed internet that they need to compete and survive economically. On the other hand, much of rural America is crisscrossed by an aging network of roads, railroads and shipping channels in need of repairs, maintenance and expansion.The panel ended with a warning for those trying to bring broadband to rural areas from Mike McNalley of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, based on the challenges co-ops faced with bringing electricity to these same regions in the 20th century. "There is going to be a lot of opposition," he said. "It will be from the telecoms, the cable companies, data companies and others who think that, someday, they may get there and they want to preserve that market, just like the [utility companies] did with electricity 85 years ago."