Poll Shows Iowa Farmers In Good Spirits

Agriculture Online reports that the annual Iowa Farm and Rural Life poll, conducted by Iowa State University Extension sociologist J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr., shows that almost half of those responding said the quality of their families’ lives has improved in the last five years. In addition, 35% of all those responding say a similar improvement has taken place in their communities in general.

“Farmers generally were positive or neutral about the overall economic prospects for rural Iowa, with nearly 40% anticipating improvements over the next five years,” Arbuckle said. “This is a sharp increase from 2006, when only 19% believed that economic prospects would improve, and represents the largest percentage of positive responses on this question since 1988.”

This sentiment was even stronger when sharpening the focus on individual farms, the survey shows. The results of this year’s poll for Iowa however, may not be entirely indicative of the sentiments out on the land. The survey was conducted in February, before the summer’s flooding and subsequent market volatility.

“The survey was taken back in February, when grain prices were on the upswing. Now that they’ve come back down some, along with the turmoil in other areas of the economy, I expect that assessments of future quality of life might be lower today. Nevertheless, what looks like a decent harvest on the whole, given the floods and other weather worries throughout the summer, might offset some of that bad news somewhat,” Arbuckle said. ❖