Precision Farming Act of 2016
This bill amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to require the Department of Agriculture to give priority to loan applicants that offer to provide broadband service, at better than the minimum acceptable level of broadband service, to agricultural producers in the proposed service territory to improve their ability to conduct precision farming or ranching. (Precision farming is a strategy that uses various technologies to manage production through data analysis and automation.)
The bill also amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide universal service support for the installation of broadband services to improve the ability of an agricultural producer to conduct precision farming or ranching. The bill requires broadband providers to install the services at a discount and makes the providers eligible for a reimbursement of the discount. Agricultural producers are limited to one discount that is the lesser of: (1) the amount that the provider would charge other parties for a similar installation, or (2) $15,000.