As part of the NSW State and Federal Government's plan to improve regional and rural connectivity farmers and families across the state's central west will benefit from major upgrades with 17 new telecommunication towers set to be built across the region by the end of 2025.
Overall, the NSW Government and Australian Governments have provided up to $6.1 million to improve rural connectivity to around 1,500 premises across Weddin Shire, Burcher, Burra, Eumungerie, Glen Davis, Talbingo in the central west and Burra, Urila and Talbingo in southern NSW.
Improvements will be delivered through new services provided by YLess4U and Connected Farms, enabling farmers to access reliable communications and data directly from their paddocks, maximising productivity and saving time and money.
Primary producers and agricultural businesses are increasingly relying on the internet, with modern farming technology such as livestock monitoring, smart irrigation systems and wireless drone inspections for land surveying now being used alongside AgTech in tractors, headers and centre-pivot watering systems.
This new funding will allow growers in the Weddin Shire and surrounding areas to fully harness modern farming technology through improved coverage.
Currently, machinery programmed to sow seeds in a designated area across Weddin Shire farmland can only be configured using farm-office based computers with wired internet connections, as there are no reliable wireless options out on the farm.
In the Weddin Agriculture Precinct, Connected Farms will deliver a network providing mobile services and high speed fixed wireless broadband to more than 200 premises in Caragabal, Bribbaree, Piney Range and Pullabooka.
Dual SIM phones will allow locals to make calls and access mobile data via the Connected Farms network, while still accessing other mobile voice and data networks.
In addition to unlocking modern Agtech methods, locals and visitors alike will have improved access to emergency services during disasters and unexpected events.
In Burcher, Burra, Eumungerie, Glen Davis, Talbingo and Urila, telecommunications provider, YLess4U will deliver high speed fixed wireless broadband to premises providing locals farmers and their families with fast and reliable internet.
For more information on the latest Regional Connectivity Program, visit: www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/internet/regional-connectivity-program
For information on co-funded regional NSW projects, visit www.nsw.gov.au/connectregionalNSW
Quotes from Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland
"Every Australian deserves access to fast, reliable and affordable connectivity regardless of whether they live.
"Since coming to office, the Albanese Government has been working to bridge the digital divide with a focus on regional New South Wales.
"These upgrades will make a meaningful difference to residents, local businesses and visitors to the Central West.
"Labor's vision is for Australia to be the most connected continent, and we are working with the NSW Government and industry to deliver this."
Quotes from NSW Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty
"Residents in rural and regional areas deserve dependable telecommunications services to support their everyday needs and that is what this program is providing.
"Improved digital services is important for both the productivity of the farm business and for the daily logistical challenges of living in a rural area.
"Farmers and their families shouldn't have to stand in the back yard waving their phones around to make a call.
"These upgrades will mean school children can easily contact their parents when the school bus drops them off at the farm gate.
Quotes from co-founder and Growth Lead at Connected Farms Melissa Andrews
"These connectivity services will provide farmers with a platform to utilise the latest in real time digital and precision agricultural technologies across their farms to increase their operational efficiency," Ms Andrews said.
"For many years, connectivity in many parts of Weddin Shire has been very limited and these services will also enable better communications and farm safety capability."
Quotes from YLess4U director Jason Green
"We're proud to partner with the NSW Government as part of the Australian Government's Regional Connectivity Program to deliver fixed wireless broadband services to over 900 homes and businesses across six communities in regional New South Wales," Mr Green said.
"Once complete, residents and businesses will have access to faster, more reliable internet and a wide range of plans and pricing options, importantly at prices equivalent to those found in metropolitan areas.
Case study - Stuart McKellar
In the Weddin Shire, sheep and cropping farmer Stuart McKellar runs a large family operation alongside his wife, Cath, brother, Brett, and son, Scott.
Since the land was handed down from Stuart's parents, the family have managed the farm together and as residents of rural Weddin Shire, they are all too familiar with the challenges brought on by the digital divide.
In 2023, when Stuart's truck broke down 40 kilometres outside of Grenfell, he deliberately stopped the vehicle on a hill, knowing it was his only chance to get enough mobile reception to call for help.
When the mechanic arrived on-site, they realised that he would need to make five separate trips back into town to access the phone and internet coverage needed to diagnose the mechanical fault and get Stuart's truck back on the road.
Unfortunately, these incidents aren't the only way the digital divide affects Stuart and his family; it also impacts their daily sheep and cropping operations.
The business is forced to rely on paper-based vendor declarations and contracts because they lack the internet access required to download even low-megabyte digital resources.
Poor connectivity makes it hard for farmers to use modern tools like Variable Rate (VR) fertiliser tech, which usually lets them upload field data, like soil tests, straight from their tractor.
Without internet in the field, Stuart is forced to return to the home office to upload the required data and make adjustments before getting back to spreading fertiliser where it's needed most.
This slows things down and means they can't always make the best use of expensive inputs like lime and gypsum, or maximise crop growth efficiently.
Once the Connected Farms service becomes available in the area, challenges like Stuart's will soon become a thing of the past and residents will finally have access to reliable mobile phone reception and metropolitan-grade internet, whether during car breakdowns or for everyday farming needs.
Weddin Shire farmer Stuart McKellar said:
"Connectivity has always been very poor around here and our dependence on data is getting greater and greater," Mr McKellar said.
"Accidents often happen where there is no service, and that improved connectivity would not only make residents' day-to-day lives easier but would increase farm safety across the shire.
"I recently broke down 40 kilometres from Grenfell and the mechanic had to make five trips out from town to fix the issue as we couldn't get data out at the worksite. It's an awful lot of travelling and time wasted and if we had decent internet connection, it would have been a simple fix.
"Currently, your phone will only work near a certain tree or on a hill, we have to use a paper-based vendor declaration because electronic ones won't load, and we rely on internet in the home office to do simple things like searching the weather forecast.
"Any AgTech field adjustments that need to be done on farm machinery must be done on the house computer too - our farm is spread out across 30 kilometres so when you go out to the field and realise what you've preplanned is wrong, you have to take it back to the home office, where the internet is, to make the necessary adjustments.
"Once we have reliable coverage, it'll be a big time saving and big benefit if we can make those adjustments on the spot."
