Farmers Again Rank
PARK RIDGE, 111. The over
all public image of America’s far
mers and ranchers continues to be
strong, according to a nationwide
survey commissioned by the
American Farm Bureau
Federation.
Among the highlights of Farm
Bureau’s 1999 Farmer Image
Tracking Poll is evidence that con
sumers believe the nation's far
mers contribute “a great deal to
society” and are effective in con
serving natural resources, but arc
not paid adequately for their role in
supplying food for the nation.
Consumers typically rank far
mers high for positive attributes
and in overall job performance. In
nearly all areas of comparison,
positive numbers in the new poll
were higher than those from a
similar consumer poll conducted
two years ago.
More than eight out of 10 con
sumers (85 percent) said farmers
contribute a “great deal" to society
a virtual tic compared to teach
ers and firefighters (both 86 per
cent). While fanners scored the
same as in the 1997 poll, the
largest drop was seen for business
people, who fell to 37 percent,
compared to 50 percent in 1997.
Two out of three respondents
(66 percent) rated farmers “very
effective in conserving natural
resources and caring for the envi
ronment.*’ That rating was higher
than that for environmentalists (60
percent) and scientists (58 per
cent). Farmers and scientists each
picked up four percentage points
from the 1997 poll, while environ
mentalists fell four points.
Identical to the 1997 poll, 72
percent erf the consumers said far
mers do not receive appropriate
compensation for supplying food
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When asked to compare finan
cial rewards received by different
levels of America’s food produc
tion system, 43 percent of the
respondents thought food
proccssors/manufacturers
received the most, nearly a third
(32 percent) thought farmers
receive the most and just 24 per
cent thought supermarkets
received the most financial
reward. Food processors/
manufacturers was the only categ
ory that increased from the 1997
poll (39 percent).
Consumers showed an aware
ness of the economic problems far
mers experienced this year, as 68
percent thought farmers were
worse-off financially than they
were 10 years ago. That number
jumped eight percentage points
from the 1997 poll.
About three out of four consum
ers (73 percent) said the govern
ment should work to improve the
farm economy by making it easier
few farmers to export their goods.
Sixty-seven percent said when a
poor farm economy threatens far
mers’ abilities to survive, the gov
ernment should provide financial
assistance. More than half (55 per
cent) said the government should
boost the farm economy by cutting
costly federal regulations imposed
on farmers. Only 17 percent of the
consumers said fanners receive
too much government assistance.
When asked in an open-ended
question to describe farmers, the
most frequent consumer response
was “hard-working’’ (58 percent).
Next on that unaided list of
descriptors were “honest” (14 per
cent) and “good family values” (8
percent). While an impressive 86
percent of the consumers said they
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High With American Consumers
would believe a fanner talking
about the challenges of fanning,
that number fell three percentage
points from the 1997 poll.
When asked their perceived
image of an American farm, half of
the respondents said they envi
sioned a large farm run by a family,
34 percent said they pictured a
small farm run by a family and 14
percent said a large farm tun by a
corporation. The small family
farm category had the only
increase, up nine percentage points
from the 1997 poll.
Neatly three out of four con
sumers (74 percent) said they were
iwarc of a trend toward fewer and
larger farms, and 73 percent of
those respondents felt negatively
toward the trend. The most fre
quently mentioned concern among
that group (36 percent) was that
smaller formers were being pushed
out of business. However, more
than half of those respondents (52
percent) said the government
should not intervene to restrict the
trend. Overall, however, 84 per
cent of the total respondents agree
d that society should be concerned
about the decline in the number of
farmers.
Regarding their ability to pro
duce healthy food, small (83 per
cent) and large (79 percent) family
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farms were given excellent ratings,
while large corporate farms
received an excellent rating from
43 percent of the respondents.
Large family farms were viewed
as most innovative (61 percent)
compared to small family forms
and large corporate farms (54 per
cent each). Small family farms
received the highest “excellent”
rating for caring for the environ
ment (77 percent) followed by
large family farms (65 percent)
and large corporate farms (18
percent).
Similar to the 1997 poll, on
selected job-performance issues,
consumers said farmers were
doing an excellent or good job of:
taking care of farm animals, 78
percent; taking care of the land, 73
percent; and producing a safe food
supply, 76 percent.
Eighty-one percent of the
surveyed consumers said farmers
were doing an average or better job
of taking care of water, using
chemicals properly and treating
farm workers fairly, but they were
less likely to award “excellent or
good” ratings in those areas
water (45 percent), chemicals (41
percent) and workers (40 percent).
While 75 percent of the consum
ers agreed that the use of new tech
nology by agriculture is good for
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America’s future, they wen a bit
less comfortable, but still suppor
tive, with genetically modified
food crops.
Of the 82 percent of respondents
who expressed an awareness of
genetically modified (GM) crops,
46 percent said the technology was
good for American consumers, 37
percent said it was bad for consum
ers and 17 percent did not express
an opinion. Of those who express
ed an awareness, GM concerns
ranged from food safety (20 per
cent) and uncertain long-term
effects (15 percent), to inadequate
testing (10 percent), opinions that
GM crops are not natural (6 per
cent) and environmental concerns
(5 percent).
Of those expressing awareness
of CM crops, the group was evenly
split as to whether the government
should restrict die technology,
which it currendy docs. Forty-five
percent said they favored restric
tions, 44 percent said they did not
believe restrictions were necessary
and 11 percent did not express an
opinion. Of those favoring govern
ment restrictions on GM crops, the
biggest reason expressed (32 per
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necessary for all new technology.
The most common reason given by
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