Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Earlier this summer, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a virtual listening session focused on broadband connectivity around the country. The event featured six voices from different sectors, and all of them brought the unified message that connectivity in rural America is still a major pain point, affecting everything from health to education to economic opportunities. The Biden administration’s Jobs Plan promises an infusion of resources to address broadband connectivity, what former Congressman John Lewis described as the civil rights issue of our time. But how those resources in the job plan are allocated and implemented in small towns and rural places across the country is yet unclear. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

 Meagan Kaiser was one of the six voices at the table with Vice President Harris. She knows firsthand how broadband can make or break a farming operation. She and her husband, Marc, farm corn and soybeans alongside Marc’s family on Kaiser Family Farms in Carrollton, Missouri. Let me say that again. She and her husband, Marc, farm corn and soybeans alongside Marc’s family on Kaiser Family Farms in Carrollton, Missouri. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Meagan is also a soil scientist and chief operating officer at Perry Agricultural Laboratory, Inc. in Bowling Green. Meagan Kaiser currently serves on the United Soybean Board executive committee, and in that role recently worked with Benton Institute for Broadband & Society to produce a comprehensive report that tells the story of broadband as an indispensable tool for farmers and the communities they serve. I’m really pleased to have Meagan Kaiser with us on Everywhere Radio today to talk about her journey into farming and soil science, and to find out what it was like to speak to Vice President Harris. Meagan Kaiser, thank you for being here. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yeah. Thanks for having me on. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Well, I wanted to ask you right away, what was it like to present on the topic of broadband connectivity to Vice President Harris this past summer? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

It was surreal is the first word I can come up with, but also so 2021 because it was on Zoom. We had been working at the farm, so I hurriedly went in and got prepped for the call, but I was wearing gym shorts, to be honest. I had my blazer and my… You know, because you can and it was Zoom. But maybe that’s too much information that you wanted. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

No, I love that. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

It was just such an incredible thing to really honestly listen to five perspectives that were so different, like totally different walks of life than what I’ve experienced, and we all had the same problem. And I think it’s profound what John Lewis said, saying that connectivity is the civil rights issue of our time. But it also is something that so many of us from so different walks of life and perspectives, that we all have in common. Maybe that’s not a good thing, but it is a little bit less lonely, I guess. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

It is a unifying issue. I remember back in… I guess it was 2007. The Rural Assembly convened a panel on broadband connectivity at one of its first convenings, and it was shown how broadband is woven throughout our lives. It’s an essential tool not just for business, not just for education or health, but also for us to participate with one another in this democracy. And to be on Zoom with Vice President Harris, I wondered how you got connected that day, if you had to pull any strings. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

That was actually the most stressful part about all of it, was to make sure that I wasn’t going to drop off the call. So we had every other device turned off, or you’re barricading the area so nobody’s interrupting our wifi signal. Yeah, that was probably the scariest part of the whole thing. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

I think that one of the points that I like to make in what you just said so eloquently is that it’s not about watching Netflix, but it is about the fact that we need to be able to attract good people to rural communities. And you can’t give the same quality of life in rural America right now if you can’t even connect to the internet. And the frustration level that it causes when you can’t connect to the internet is a lot. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

One of my examples is that we got broadband… Today I’m sitting at our laboratory. We got broadband in 2019, thank goodness, right before the pandemic. But what would take me three days to do I can now do in one day, and the reason is, is that it was just the upload speed. And when I am working with data, agricultural data, where we’re taking our soil test results… I mean, we’re really micro-managing the land for the most sustainable outcome. But if I can’t upload my soil test results and then overlay that with my yield data and my seeding rates and my other inputs, then I can’t make better data-driven decisions. And frankly, the amount of time that it takes when you don’t have just three megabytes per second upload speed, most farmers don’t have the time and certainly don’t have the patience for it. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And so that was one of the ways that I was really talking with the vice president of. This isn’t just about ease of access. It’s literally the sustainability factor of the future of agriculture hinges on our ability to connect to the internet. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Oh, wow. Would you say more about that? Because, I mean, I know that was a lot of the message that you brought to Kamala Harris, was around this notion of broadband as an essential tool for the future of farming, for sustainable farming, for healthier farming and how it serves communities. Could you say a little bit more about that connection? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yeah. And I think sometimes if you… Back up just a little bit in case your audience isn’t familiar with farming and common day practices, but we actually take soil tests and run a profile on that soil, similar to a blood workup that you would get at a hospital. In fact, we’re using a lot of the same equipment in our soil testing laboratory as what you would see in a hospital lab. And we’re reading the calcium, the magnesium, the potassium and phosphorus, just like you would… These are nutrients. And the reason those are so important in the soil is that it has to be in the soil to be in the plant, and it has to be in the plant to be in the animal or the human that consumes that plant. And those are important nutrients in our own bodies. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And so farmers are looking at that, not only from getting that nutrition through the whole supply chain, but also from the aspect of creating pour space in the soil, the water holding capacity, the air holding capacity where the microbes live, and stimulating the biological activity in the soil. It’s kind of like gut health. It’s like the Wild West of what we need to still know, but we know that it’s really important. The biological activity is what we’re really working on to focus on in the soil. And the reason for that is that that’s where we can store carbon. That’s where we can keep nitrogen in the soil. And by doing those things, it lessens our footprint on the earth itself, that we’re able to keep the nutrients we need to produce our crops, hold it in the soil, hold the water so we can be more efficient. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And those are important things to the future of the planet, and the crops that we produce when we’re acting that behavior are more sustainable, and then there are more sustainable ingredients to other people’s products. And now that we’re looking at using more green fuel sources, we’re looking at different ways that we can use soybean oil to offset fossil fuel oil from everything in rubber to asphalt. All of that hinges on our ability to produce it sustainably. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

But it’s not just enough for me to talk about it and say, “Oh yeah, we’re sustainable,” but the way that folks want to see the data, they want to see the numbers, our proof of concept. We can do that with all of the different layers of data that we’re collecting and we can make data-driven decisions, and we can say, “When I put this on, I took this off. That was the most efficient economic yield I could produce every acre.” 

Meagan Kaiser: 

That is the crux that we’re really talking about here, but I can’t overlay data if I can’t bring it from my combine to my desktop, or if I can’t get my soil test reports from my email into the cloud to put on the same service. And so that’s what we’re talking about, is bringing the data from the different connections. The technology is there. It’s the ability to really puzzle it together and then to draw out the decision-making tools, that we’re really waiting on better connectivity. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Oh, wow, I love how you just drew that big arc of connection between the health of our planet and our ability to connect and have proper access. Well, I’m wondering, too, if you could tell us a little bit about your background in farming and how you became a soil scientist. Was this company started by your parents? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yes, yes. My parents started Perry Agricultural Laboratory in 1982, and we’ve gotten samples from… We get samples regularly from all 50 states and 75 countries. And so I was really lucky, I was 16-years-old and we were in the United Kingdom for a farm show. And my dad jumped down into the soil pit and he was talking to an individual farmer about looking at the pour space and the ability of the soil and how drainage worked and water holding capacity. And all of a sudden more farmers just came by and came by, and then all of a sudden he had like 50 farmers around him. And it made me realize that the connection of doing better with our soil means better food and better health for people. From that moment on, I knew that’s what I was going to college for. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And then I met my husband, and he grew up on a farm. And when we got engaged, I was like, “Why aren’t we farming? We should. Doesn’t your dad want to pass it on and things like that?” And he said, “Well, he never pressured me to.” But then as we… This is our 10th harvest that we’re in right now. And it has become… I don’t know that it was something he grew up knowing he would always do. In fact, probably the opposite. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

But it is something that makes us so happy and so proud to be a part of such a global system, that we know that every day when we go to work it’s for something that people need. And that it’s a continuous improvement job, too, because even as we’re in the middle of harvest right now, we’re already looking at the data and saying, “Okay, this variety did well over here. This one did well over here and it’s already shaping what we’re going to order for next year and what kind of land management we’re going to do in between to see if we can top this year, next year.” So that’s kind of the whole story, I guess. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

I love that story. And just as you were talking about how exciting it is to be part of a global system and then an ecosystem in your backyard too, it made me think about the vagaries of weather and climate in this moment. And I’m wondering if you have reflections about climate change and broadband connectivity, like can you link those up? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yeah, absolutely. The first thing that I think of is about… Because of the Soybean Board, I was on a visit and meetings in New York City, and we met with the city official and he said, “I just want to thank you farmers. Because the soybeans that you produce, we have made a commitment to putting biodiesel in all of our sanitation trucks for the city. And the reason we did that is that the particulate emissions are less, and we have an asthma epidemic in our city.” Children, childhood asthma, they have an alarmingly high rate. And it put me on my heels a little bit. I have been so focused on my Midwestern life, that when I picture soybeans, I think about my kids on the farm and that we’re focused on we have blue skies and clean air, and that we’re focused on making sure our water is clean. The fact that then the soybeans that we produce were improving the health factor in New York City made a big connection for me. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And then that really has been one of the things that I think we can do the most when it comes to climate change. If you look at what is the number one issue with the environment, is that we have the combustion and mining of fossil fuels sources, that we can help offset that with our soybean oil, and that we can reduce our own footprint by running it in our tractors, trucks, and combines on the farm. But then we can put it in every diesel truck that ships our packages to our front door. I think that that’s the first place that I think of as a huge contribution that soybeans can make to our planet. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

The second is as we focus on our soil, we have the ability to not only yield well and produce for a growing population, but we also have the ability to sequester carbon and do our part there, too. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Yeah, thank you for that answer. And also, I was thinking too about bringing this to a more localized… Let me start over. I wanted to ask you about just your community and your neighbors in your backyard. The report that’s coming out from a collaboration between United Soybean Board and Benton Institute for Internet & Society, I think that report speaks to a great deal about how all of these things are, again, interconnected: the farm, the work you do in your farm office, the work you’re doing in the field, and then the work you’re doing in the community. And I wonder if you could speak to those three areas that the report talks about. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

If you’ll give me one second. I have the specific and I thought I had it pulled up [crosstalk 00:27:25]. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Yeah. No, that’s okay. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

I’m sorry. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

And I could maybe ask that question better. Let me think about that. Let’s see. Can I ask that question again, too? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yeah. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

So we’ll edit. So there’s a brand new report out this month from Benton Institute and the United Soybean Board telling the story of the future of farming and how it depends so much on broadband connectivity, and they’ve broken it up into three sections: the farm office, the field, and the community. And I wondered if you could reflect for a moment on the importance of this report, and also draw those connections for us between office, fields, and community. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Yeah, I think that… What I’ve been talking about is overlaying data, and this report showed that 60% of farmers have slow internet speeds and 78% of us don’t have another viable option. So not only is it slow, but there’s no competition to make it any better and so we’re stuck. And that doesn’t just stop with, “Oh, okay, so now I can’t do that.” The dollar follows that. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

If you think about the fact that our farmers account for $80 billion of our GDP and we can’t connect to the internet, how does that translate even to our local economy? This report, I think they showed that it was 33% of farmers say that the lack of internet affected our equipment purchases. And if you add that up, that’s $13 billion in farm equipment purchases are impacted by the lack of rural internet, because there’s all this technology that you’re paying for when you buy it, that you can’t use if you can’t upload it to the internet. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

And so what does that mean? Maybe it doesn’t seem that well, okay, how many farm manufacturers are there, et cetera? But if you think about those are businesses that are in our rural areas, because that’s where you sell farm equipment, and how that impacts our schools, how that impacts our healthcare system, just our communities at large. And that’s only one aspect of it. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

So I think that when we think about 60% of farmers not having enough connectivity to run our businesses, I think it’s profound when you talk about how large of an employer agriculture is. We’re like the number three employer in the United States behind government and healthcare. So if you think about the government or healthcare having 60% of their employees unable to connect to the internet and the impact that that would have, it is profound when you think about the trickle effect. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

And this report also lists a number of proposals, solutions, recommendations, for closing the gap, but I wonder if there are one or two recommendations that just jump out at you as just so obvious if we could just do this or tweak this, that it would make a big difference? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

I don’t know if I can comment on that very well, to be fair. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

That’s okay. No, that’s okay. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

I feel like from a farm perspective, we want it all as fast as possible. We needed it five years ago. And so I’ll leave it to the experts to decide what’s the fastest, best way to get it here. But I think it’s really important, and it’s really crucial, honestly, that there seems to be this momentum of acknowledging that broadband isn’t a luxury, it’s infrastructure, and the impact that that has not only on our daily business, but our ability to attract the next generation of farmers. If the world’s growing in population, we’re going to need more people who understand how to grow nutritious, delicious food on less acres. And you can only attract people back to agriculture if they have a connection to the rest of the world. It’s just the way that these generations work as a millennial, and then looking at Gen Z and then my kids, even. How would I attract them to come back home if they have to step back a decade compared to the rest of the world? It just isn’t realistic. 

And so on the flip side, if you look at the opportunities, now that we’re all trying to get on Zoom, being able to connect with classes and education, with people from different walks of life, maybe that would lead to even better understanding of each other, and unifying issues, as you described it earlier. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

That’s wonderful. Well, I wanted to close by asking you a question that we ask all of our guests, and it always brings me great joy to hear these responses. What are you reading or watching right now that you would want to recommend to our listeners and to the bigger world? 

Meagan Kaiser: 

You might laugh, but Ted Lasso. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Yes, yes. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

I know it’s dumb. Well, one, he’s touting Kansas City, which is an hour from our farm. So it is our favorite show right now, a guilty pleasure that my husband and I are watching, that we do love just that eternal optimism. And I guess we identify with a lot of it, too. You know, life’s not that bad, and just trying to cheer each other on and take life a little bit lighter. So maybe not the most profound answer you’ve received, but we’ve been watching [crosstalk 00:33:46]. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Yeah, it’s wonderful. I’m with you. I’m with you on that. It feels like good medicine when I watch an episode of Ted Lasso. So thank you for that recommendation. We both endorse it. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

Okay, good. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Meagan Kaiser, you’ve been a wonderful guest. I really appreciate you and your time. It’s good to meet you finally. Thank you for your work. 

Meagan Kaiser: 

It’s nice to meet you, too. Thanks, Whitney Kimball Coe.