This study presents a systematic review of 169 papers concerning the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) related to rural areas, specifically to dairy farms. The objective was to delve into the relationship between dairy farmers and the administrative authorities via e-government, comparing this area to another eight concerning the farmer’s needs and expectations in relation to the ICT in different fields of their business. We observed that areas such as connectivity and digital inclusion are the most covered areas not only at the study level but also at the government level since countries all over the world are trying to develop politics to put an end to the so-called “digital divide,” which affects rural areas more intensely. This is increasing due to the growing technological innovations. The areas of the market, production, financial development, management and counseling, Smart Farming, and Internet of Things have been approached, associated with the ICT in dairy farms, showing in the latter two an increasing number of papers in the last few years. The area of public administration in relation to dairy farms has also been covered, being remarkable the low number of pieces of research concerning the interaction by the farmers, more specifically by dairy farmers, with the public administration, which is surprising due to the new global need and especially in the European Union (EU) of interacting with it telematically by all legal entities. The results show that there are still barriers to the implementation of the electronic government (e-government) since the websites do not meet the user’s expectations. Therefore, this study lays the ground for future research on this area. As a graphical abstract of the contributions of this paper, we present a graphic summary, where the different contributions by areas and expressed in percentage values are shown.

With the aim of assessing the farmers’ situation in terms of the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and their relationship with the e-government (electronic government), a case study consisting of 34 face-to-face surveys between February and March 2020 in dairy farms in the region of Galicia (Spain) was conducted. From the census, we chose those farms considered most representative taking into account the following criteria: the level of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and the production of milk (litres / cow and year). The results show that, in spite of the fact that a vast majority of the users use the web tools of the Public Administration, there are many users who find problems related to the agility and ease of use of these tools, especially when compared with private APPs which they also use daily in connection to their farms. Our research delves into those farmers who do not use the internet and the alternative methods which they employ. The telephone helpline is particularly important, as it is the favourite method of smaller farms.