Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
8/7/00
Contacts:
Paul Lasley, Extension Sociology, (515) 294-0937, plasley@iastate.edu
Del Marks, Extension Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807,
delmarks@iastate.edu
Poll Indicates Farmers are Loyal Supporters of Local Businesses
AMES, Iowa -- Nearly nine in 10 Iowa farmers say they depend on the agribusinesses located closest to their farms to meet their everyday needs for goods and services.
Eighty-nine percent of the respondents to the 2000 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll said they market their grain through the closest grain elevator, located an average of 7 miles from their farm. Eight-five percent said they do business with the closest machinery dealer, located an average of 15 miles from their farm. And 91 percent said they use the closest livestock auction, located an average of 24 miles away, according to Paul Lasley, Iowa State University Extension rural sociologist who directed the survey.
"The data collected this spring are not appreciably different than (similar) data collected in 1990," Lasley said. "When comparing the 1990 and 2000 polls, the distances traveled have not changed very much." But a Union County farmer noted "with fewer farm units and operators, the dealers for machinery and parts are fewer and farther apart."
In addition to agribusinesses, the poll asked farmers about a wide variety of other goods and services. Grocery stores and banks are two businesses most likely to be bypassed, but even in these cases, 77 percent of the farmers said they use the closest grocery and bank. Among those who do not use the closest grocery or bank, the average distance traveled is only 6 miles. Lasley said that indicates that most groceries and banking services are still obtained within the local community.
Eighty percent of the farmers responding to the poll said they use the closest automobile sales and repair business, traveling an average of 14 miles, and 86 percent use the closest lumber yard. Ninety-one percent use the closest hardware store, unchanged from 1990.
For leisure activities, 94 percent say they use their closest library, and 93 percent say they use the closest recreational facilities. For health care, farmers travel an average of 13 miles to a physician or medical clinic, and 81 percent use the closest clinic. Eighty-four percent use the closest hospital, and 95 percent say the closest nursing home provides adequate care.
A Cherokee County farmer expressed concern about the future of rural businesses. "We are going to lose towns and rural activities, neighbors, businesses, especially machine shops," he wrote. "To enlarge is not the answer for rural communities."
While these data indicate that farm families are loyal to their communities and spend most of their money there, in many cases the farm business trade is simply not large enough to support an entire community by itself. Increasingly the rural nonfarm population is a critical part of keeping main street viable, Lasley said. Schools, churches, voluntary associations and main street businesses are dependent upon those who live in the country but are not farm families. The future of businesses and community organizations depends on being creative in serving the needs of both farm and rural nonfarm families, Lasley said.
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. A statewide random sample of 4,977 Iowa farm operators were sent mail questionnaires in February, with a 61 percent response rate, yielding a sample size of 3,049.
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