Broadband for Farmers

One thing the 2007 Ag census did was identify farmers with broadband access. Tim Murphy at the DailyYonder has a map showing the rural counties by level of access here. From the article:

Over 2.2 million farms were included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Census, which is conducted every five years. In 2002, the Census found that half the farms in the country were connected to the Internet in some way (broadband or dial-up). By 2007, the percentage of farms with some kind of Internet connection inched up to 56.5%.

However, only 33% of farms in 2007 had broadband connections.

The map shows what seems to be a pattern of greater access west of a line running NNE SSW from Minnesota to the Texas Panhandle--not sure why that pattern. Kansas has good coverage. I know 15 years ago the state was big into GIS--whether there's a relationship between state government policies and access I don't know.