LAST ACRE Act of 2023

This bill amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to create a Last Acre Program for expanding high-speed internet to agricultural land, and requires the National Agricultural Statistics Service to collect more broadband usage data from farmers. Sec. 2, Last Acre Program: The Secretary of Agriculture must establish a competitive grant and loan program for broadband providers to deliver qualifying connectivity, at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, to unserved or underserved eligible land used for active crop or livestock production. The Federal share of a project is capped at 80 percent, or 90 percent for limited resource farmers or ranchers. Providers must submit bid applications, and the Secretary will allow competing bids from registered providers. Priority is given first to unserved land in remote areas, then other unserved land, then underserved land in remote areas, then other underserved land. Recipients must meet cybersecurity requirements and build out service within four years. Up to 10 percent of funds may go to Agricultural Research Service centers. $10 million per year is authorized for fiscal years 2024 through 2028. Sec. 3, National Agricultural Statistics Service data collection on broadband adoption: The Secretary of Agriculture must update the computer usage and ownership survey and the census of agriculture to ask whether the respondent subscribes to broadband internet access service for a farm site, and if so, the download and upload speeds and the purposes for which the internet is used, including precision agriculture.