Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
10/1/99
Contacts:
Paul Lasley, Extension Sociology, (515) 294-0937, plasley@iastate.edu
Del Marks, Extension Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807,
dkmarks@iastate.edu
State Finances in Better Shape Than Agriculture, Farmers Say
AMES, Iowa--Although they are greatly concerned about the profitability of their farms, about half of Iowa's farm operators say they are satisfied with the general financial conditions in the state.
Fifty-one percent of farmers who responded to the 1999 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll said they were satisfied with the state's overall financial picture. Only 22 percent said they were dissatisfied, and 27 percent were uncertain, according to Paul Lasley, Iowa State University Extension sociologist who directed the poll.
By comparison, only 30 percent said they were satisfied with the profitability of their own farms this year, and 55 percent said they were dissatisfied. When similar questions were asked in 1991, the level of satisfaction with the profitability of their own farms was significantly higher, with 58 percent indicating they were satisfied and only 34 dissatisfied, Lasley said. In contrast, only 16 percent of the 1991 respondents were satisfied with the financial condition of the state as a whole.
Satisfaction levels with financial conditions in their own communities showed little change from 1991 to 1999. In the 1991 poll, 37 percent said community conditions were satisfactory, while 40 percent said they were satisfied in 1999. Lasley said the fact that local community satisfaction did not change as much as farmer satisfaction with the statewide financial conditions probably indicates that small towns are facing the same stresses as farmers.
Questions on the 1999 poll also revealed a decline in satisfaction with farming as an occupation, compared to 1991. Seven years ago, 71 percent of Iowa farm operators said they were satisfied with their choice of occupation, compared with only 47 percent this year. On the other hand, the number of farmers who said they were dissatisfied doubled in that time period, from 17 percent in 1991 to 34 percent this year.
"With current farm prices, and the associated financial stress that is so apparent in farming right now, it is not surprising that farmers are experiencing such high levels of dissatisfaction with their farm's profitability," Lasley said. "Perhaps it is even more discouraging that the general economy is so robust and yet farming continues to lag behind," he noted.
Despite all the troubles on their farms and in their communities, nearly three out of four Iowa farmers (71 percent) said they are satisfied with the level of neighborliness in their communities, and only 17 percent said it was unsatisfactory.
The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll is funded by ISU Extension and the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. The purpose of the poll, conducted since 1982, is to ask farmers' views on a variety of rural and agricultural issues. Mail questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 4,947 Iowa farm operators in mid-February, with a 52 percent response rate.
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