More affordable rural broadband for farmers is needed, says union

The latest figures from the National Farmers’ Union reveals that farmers are being left behind because of the high cost of installing full fibre broadband in rural areas, according to a story on the BBC.

A representative and county advisor for the NFU in Derbyshire, Andrew Critchlow, said there are numbers of farmers who struggle getting online, despite the importance of having fast, reliable internet connection.

Only 34% of NFU members have full fibre broadband according to recent figures in a 2023 survey - compared to 57% of properties nationally.

Although nearly 400,000 homes are connected to full fibre in Derbyshire via Openreach, the company is working to reach more properties get online – but high costs are prohibiting some farmers from connecting, and remote properties are missing out.

Critchlow said: “The cost is higher for telecoms companies, so installing into one property is nowhere near as cost-effective as when they are doing multiple properties, and I think that's why remote locations get dropped off in these schemes.”

Graham Locker, who has a farm near Ashbourne, said he could go an entire day without getting a proper internet connection and believes his access has got worse over the past three years – with full fibre being the solution.

“If they could come and put some full fibre cabling into the farm and connect the house I will be very happy," he said.

Locker said the amount of online administration work in farming had grown over the years and added he had investigated getting the internet via a satellite, but this was too expensive.

An Openreach spokesperson said: “Openreach is building full fibre to millions of homes and businesses across the UK and has already reached more than 339,000 across Derbyshire.

“We continue to work closely with Digital Derbyshire and UK government on reaching more areas.”

Image shows: Graham Locker, Farmer, Ashbourne