A lack of rural connectivity is holding back farming businesses, according to a survey by the National Farmers Union.

The results showed more than four in ten farmers still do not have ‘adequate’ fast and reliable broadband in order to run a modern-day farming business.

The farming organisation said the report highlight the “ongoing division” between rural and urban areas, with the potential for essential food production business growth hampered by persistent poor connectivity and mobile coverage in rural areas.

NFU deputy president Stuart Roberts described it as “completely unacceptable”.

“For too long, those living and working in the countryside have been dealt a poor hand when it comes to digital connectivity; waiting for improvements which never seem to arrive.

“It is completely unacceptable that in this digital age we have a two-tier system of haves and have-nots – particularly at a time when communication has become even more important.”

Mr Roberts said modern farming relies on fast and reliable internet access, yet the survey showed, more than four in ten farmers feel they still don’t have the connectivity they need to run their businesses.

“This comes at a critical time for these food production businesses when much is changing,” Mr Roberts said.

Trying to farm more efficiently by monitoring crops and livestock, taking part in virtual business meetings, online banking and remote learning as part of home-schooling, all feature in the survey as reasons why farmers have been left frustrated over the past 12 months by slow broadband speeds and lack of mobile signals, a situation exacerbated by the global pandemic.

Mr Roberts highlighted the difficulty farmers faced when poor connectivity prohibited the adoption of new technologies which offered new opportunities for the sector and food production.

“The current pace of change is just too slow and, with the introduction of 5G and fibre broadband technology in cities, the gap between urban and rural areas continues to widen,” he said. “As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently highlighted, people living in rural areas ‘risk being left even further behind’ if the Government fails to raise its game on rural connectivity.

Mr Roberts said the NFU is “renewing” its call to both Government and the telecommunications industry to tackle the lack of rural connectivity as a priority.

“We will continue to campaign for investment in the country’s digital infrastructure so that farm businesses can meet their huge potential, not only as food producers and custodians of the countryside, but in helping to tackle climate change and deliver on our net zero ambitions.”

This week North US Council announced a £3m investment in digital technology to boost connectivity across the county with a particular focus on rural areas.

Eighty-five per cent of the county, which is the largest in England, is classed as ‘very rural’ or ‘super-sparse’ and the funding from the York & North US Local Enterprise Partnership, will see three projects put in place to help businesses grow and recover from the pandemic.