The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending more than $44 million in grants to Minnesota to help people in rural communities access high-speed broadband.

The funding, which Sen. Tina Smith helped secure through her work on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, is expected to give more than 5,000 Minnesotans, especially in rural areas, high-speed broadband access across the state. It's also projected to help at least 139 businesses and 368 farms, Smith's office said.

The latest investment comes when as many as 136,000 homes and businesses across Minnesota are said to lack high-speed broadband access.

As part of the investment, the USDA awarded Consolidated Telecommunications Co. $11 million to connect as many as 600 homes and dozens of farms and businesses to broadband in Crow Wing and Morrison counties.

"It really helps people that want to live in rural areas get the connectivity they need to work and to stream and to do schooling and telehealth," said Andy Isackson, Consolidated Telecommunications Co.'s chief marketing officer. "It's still a big challenge that we're trying to fix in rural America."

MiEnergy Cooperative was awarded more than $28 million to provide high-speed broadband to 55 businesses and 235 farms in Fillmore and Winona counties. That investment is expected to help as many as 2,255 Minnesotans.

Additionally, Red River Rural Telephone Association was awarded more than $5 million to help 17 businesses and 55 farms and a school access high-speed broadband in Clay County. That aid is expected to help as many as 482 Minnesotans.

"Internet access is not just a luxury in the 21st century, it's a necessity," Smith said in a statement. "In Minnesota and across the country, people in rural areas, small towns, and tribal communities need access to reliable, high-speed internet."

The latest investment from the USDA follows $652 million in federal funding Sen. Amy Klobuchar helped secure last year to expand Minnesota broadband access.

Kim Hyatt of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.