Broadband Breakfast on April 9, 2025 - Precision Agriculture and Connectivity

Connectivity is revolutionizing modern farming, with precision agriculture relying on real-time data to optimize crop management, reduce resource waste, and increase yields. However, gaps in broadband access remain a major barrier to fully realizing these benefits. How can expanded broadband infrastructure support the adoption of precision agriculture technologies? What role do satellite, fixed wireless, and fiber networks play in bridging the connectivity gap for rural farms? Join us as we explore the opportunities and challenges at the intersection of broadband and agriculture.

Precision Agriculture Requires ‘All-of-the-Above’ Connectivity Approach, Experts Say

Agricultural connectivity requirements differ fundamentally from residential broadband needs

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Panelists

• Mark Rubin, Director of Government Relations, CostQuest Associates 
• Joy Sterling, Partner and CEO, Iron Horse Vineyards
• Andy Bater, Owner, Fifth Estate Growers LLC
• Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Mark Rubin is the Director of Government Relations at CostQuest focusing on brand and reputation, and an eye toward connecting with federal agencies and entities who could benefit from the use of CostQuest's data. Mark is located in Washington D.C.

Joy Sterling is Partner and CEO of Iron Horse Vineyards, her family’s renowned estate winery in Sebastopol, California. Appointed by the Governor, she serves on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and completed three terms on the FCC’s Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force. She is currently leading the creation of a connectivity test bed in the vineyards at Iron Horse, focused on advancing innovation in viticulture.  

Andy Bater, a 4^th generation farmer, works on agricultural issues through seats on Pennsylvania Farm Bureau's State Board of Directors, the State Committee for the USDA Farm Service Agency and the Governor’s Advisory Committee for the Pennsylvania Food Policy Council. Andy's background includes a 25+ year career in radio and television engineering, specializing in communications infrastructure, new technology, regulation and disaster recovery including boots on the ground management of the aftermath of 9/11 and hurricane Katrina. From 2019 – 2024 Andy was a main committee member of the Federal Communications Commission Precision Ag Task Force, and in 2025 was appointed to the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, a panel of policy experts advising the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.