Inflation,
Spending
For High
More than seven out of 10 non
farm families blame inflation as
the main cause of rising food
prices in 1973, and 82 percent say
that the best way to correct in
flation 'is to cut government
spendings'
Strong majorities also favor
controls on corporation profits
and ceilings on retail food prices
as methods of assuring
reasonable food prices.,
But the non-farm public is
strongly opposed to raising in
come taxes, food rationing, and
meatless days at stores and
restaurants.
An overwhelming proportion of
the non-farm American public, 94
percent, think food prices should
be lower; and 91 percent would
like to see food quality imporved.
This was revealed at Chicago
today by PACER, Inc., a. non
profit corporation made up of the
nation’s six leading professional
agricultural communicator
organizations. The nationwide
pEED^j
Government
Share Blame
Food Prices
survey was conducted for
PACER, Inc by Response
Analysis Corp., a research
organization in Princeton, New
Jersey. The study was funded by
the Office of Communication of
the U. S. Department of
Agriculture.
Personal interviews averaging
50 minutes each were conducted
from mid-September to mid-
October in 2,178 scientifically
selected households in 225
locations, a technique that is
expected to give accurate results
within two to three percentage
points.
The PACER survey covered
food prices, the environment,
rural development, pesticide use,
food quality, andpublic attitudes
towards farmers.
The top five causes of 1973 food
price levels named by the non
farm public were: inflation, food
exports, high farm costs, food
industry wages, and higher
transportation costs.
You Can
Measure
in Greater
Crop
Profits
/ □ >
■mj
, 315£/
A.H. HOFFMAN SEEDS. INC.
SERVIC
SUPERIOR SEED
QUALITY STANDARDS
As science discovers new and better ways of
insuring seed quality, Hoffman applies those
higher standards ... in its own seed testing
laboratory... in the production fields where
seeds are grown ... in the warehouse where
they are processed and stored.
There are probably two key reasons
why more farmers switch to Hoffman Seeds
(about 3000 last year)—Superior seed per
formance and broad, dependable service.
LANDISVILLE (Lancaster County), PENNSYLVANIA 17538
Pennsylvania's Number One Farm Seed Specialist
People were then given a list of
things that might be done to
assure reasonable food prices.
The top five choices selected by
the non-farm public were: cut
government spending, restrict
food exports, control corporation
profits, remove all planting
restrictions, and put ceilings on
retail food prices.
The PACER survey shows that
the non-farm public regards
farmers as harder working, more
friendly and helpful, more
dependable, more productive,
more concerned about the en
vironment, and doing more about
the environment than the
average non-farm person.
Nearly half the non-farm public
say that farm prices were too low
in the 10-year period 1962-72. Only
19 percent think that farm prices
were too high in 1973, and only 6
percent say that high farm in
comes were a main cause of 1973
food price levels.
The public overestimates the
rise in food prices and un
derestimates the rise in wages
for the 10-year period 1962-72.
Average wages increased 64
percent during this period, while
food prices rose 37 percent.
However, 48 percent of the non
farm public believe that food
prices went up faster than wages.
Only 27 percent correctly iden
tified wages as having gone up
more.
At Hoffman we believe research
begins to mean something when it
finds practical application on the farm
in the form of higher crop yields. We
keep in close touch with private and
public plant breeders ... often check their
work in our own test plots and on-the-farm
trials. The object: to bring you new varieties
as soon as results are proved.
PLANNING BETTER
PAYING CROPS...
Hoffman service includes a lot more than prompt
delivery and the correct order handling. More than 400
Hoffman Seed Men, located in key farming areas, keep
up to date on local soil conditions and crop results.
They’re up on new management ideas . . . ready to
help you" solve your crop probfems.
Both medical care and housing
costs—up 59 and 41 percent
increased faster than food prices
during this 10-year period, but 42
percent of the public think food
prices went up the fastest. Only
27 percent correctly identified
medical costs as having in
creased faster than housing and
food.
Farm productivity per man
hour has been increasing at twice
the rate in industry. While nearly
half of the non-farm public
recognize that farm productivity
is greater, one person in five (22
percent) thinks that the increase
in farm productivity is lower than
non-farm output per hour.
People are concerned about the
future of the family farm and
rural communities Generally,
the non-farm public endorses the
idea of rural development,
however, farm residents are
somewhat less enthusiastic about
rural development than urban
residents. People interviewed
were told that “rural develop
ment” means programs to im
prove living conditions, services,
job opportunities, education, and
income levels of rural com
munities.
Family farming is strongly
endorsed by the public-94 per
cent of the non-farnv public
VARIETY
RESEARCH &
SEED TESTING...
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
AND DISTRIBUTOR OF
FUNK’S-G
HYBRIDS
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8,1973
believe that family type farming
should be preserved. Also 96
percent say that land should be
preserved for food production.
More than four people out of 10
think there will be a food shor
tage in this country 10 years from
now. Women are more ap
prehensive than men Among
women from low-income families
living in center city areas of the
South, around 60 percent fear
food shortages in 10 years
A majority of people are
concerned about air and water
pollution, with young people 18 to
29 years old the most concerned
about environmental problems,
except for noise. Only 4 percent to
10 percent regard dust from farm
fields, smell of feedyards, and
farm pesticides as main sources
of air pollution Only 4 percent to
12 percent regard soil erosion
from farms, manure and fer
tilizer runoff, and pesticides as
main sources of water pollution.
People were queried about
their reaction to the use of
pesticides on farms. While non
farm people feel that pesticides
are not harmful if used as
directed on the label, they would
like to see stricter regulation on
pesticide use, and a high percent
say that a pesticide should not be
sold if it may be dangerous to
human health. More than half
believe that pesticides increase
the quality of farm food, but less
than half believe that pesticides
reduce the price of food to the
consumer.
The full PACER study results
are broken down into responses
for farm and non-farm
households, four regions, four
non-farm family income groups,
two farm income categories, four
types of employment
categories, men and women,
White and Black, four age
groups, four community
residence locations, and three
levels of education
There were significant dif
ferences _ within in the
response to the survey questions.
PACER, Inc. points out that these
results within groups will enable
interested organizations to direct
information programs toward
specific audiences in order to
enhance public understanding of
agriculture.
Six national agricultural
communicator associations
which are members of PACER,<
Inc. (Professional Agricultural
Communications Editorial
Research) are: Agricultural
Relations Council, American
Agricultural Editors’
Association,' American
Association of Agricultural
College Editors, Cooperative
Editorial Association, National
Association of Farm Broad
casters, and the Newspaper
Farm Editors of America.
Further information about the
survey is available from PACER,
Inc., Suite 503, 1129 20tb Street,
N.W., Washington, D. C. 20036.
7