USDA Awards $200 Million in ReConnect Grants for Gigabit Fiber Across Remote Farming Communities

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $200 million in grant and loan awards through Round 5 of the ReConnect Program, delivering capital to 28 rural telephone cooperatives, tribal utilities, and municipal internet providers in 17 states.

Delivering Gigabit Fiber to Remote Farms, Ranches, and Tribal Lands

The funding packages finance the installation of 4,200 miles of underground high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure directly to farm gates, grain silos, and rural households in unserved agricultural regions of the Great Plains, the Mississippi Delta, and the Pacific Northwest. The fiber connections deliver symmetrical gigabit speeds, allowing family farmers to operate automated GPS-guided tractors, monitor smart livestock telemetry tags, and market grain crops directly to global commodity exchanges.

USDA leadership affirmed that high-speed internet is just as essential to 21st-century rural prosperity as electricity was in the 1930s, closing the economic gap between rural and urban America.

Farm Bureau and Rural Telecom Cooperatives Praise

The American Farm Bureau Federation commended the ReConnect awards, highlighting that broadband access keeps younger generations on family farms.

Rural broadband cooperatives confirmed that fiber construction will adhere to federal Buy America sourcing mandates.

Fiber Deployment Timeline

Civil fiber trenching and conduit burial across all 28 recipient cooperative territories will begin in October 2026.