Farm Journal Pulse

Job Approval Pulse Poll Shows Biden Has Big Hill to Climb with Ag

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:04:57 GMT

Respondents to the Farm Journal Pulse poll, who had shown a strong affinity to Donald Trump, now say they strongly disapprove of the job so far by President Joe Biden.

Of the 1,459 respondents, 75% said they strongly disapprove of Biden’s job so far as president. Only 9% strongly approve while 5% somewhat approve.

The Farm Journal Pulse is sent via text to approximately 5,000 farmers, ranchers and others involved in agriculture.

“We’re not focusing on anything of substance,” said farmer Casey Schumacher of Nebraska on the AgriTalk Radio Show. “We went from impeachment No. 2 to now a $1.9 trillion giveaway full of pork. It was very short-sighted to use reconciliation on this $1.9 trillion stimulus deal. If he would have went for the infrastructure, I think maybe you would have seen a turn, but it’s just going back to same old Washington, I think is people’s thoughts.”

Pro Farmer Policy Analyst Jim Wiesemeyer agreed that pushing through a stimulus bill with no expected Republican votes is driving the ag sentiment reflected in the Pulse poll.

“He campaigned on bipartisanship but it looks like they’re governing on partisanship, to be fair, and I think that’s reflected in that poll,” he said.

A year ago, 83% of Pulse respondents said they strongly approve or somewhat approve of the job performance of then President Donald Trump.

Farmers Want Proof of Concept Before Trying Biologicals

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:55:50 GMT

While biologicals aren’t new to the ag industry, there is still trepidation about them. Farmers wonder if they work and what they actually do—all of which impacts their likelihood of trying these products.

According to a recent Farm Journal Pulse, 41% of farmers say they need to know more about biologicals before they’ll use them. However, 35% of farmers think there is potential for biologicals in row crops.

See the picture above for detailed Pulse results.

Biologicals poised for growth

“The largest market for biopesticides is conventional crops,” says Keith Jones, executive director of the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA), in previous interview. He estimates more than 400 companies are interested in biostimulants and at least 200 already have biostimulant products.

Types of biologicals

There are two general categories of biological products: biopesticides and biostimulants.“Biopesticides are reduced risk pesticides that are naturally derived or synthetic equivalents of natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria, fungi and certain minerals,” Jones says. BPIA says biopesticides:

Allow organic producers to control pests while maintaining certified organic status.
Provide greater flexibility at harvest due to minimal re-entry or preharvest intervals.
Require fewer pieces of personal protective equipment for ag workers.
Act as effective resistance management tools because of their alternate, and often multiple, modes of action.
Can be used as a residue management tool.

“Biostimulant is a substance or substances and/or microorganism whose function when applied to seeds, plants or the rhizosphere is to stimulate natural processes to benefit nutrient uptake, efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress and crop quality or yield,” Jones explains.

Biostimulants:

Enhance plant growth and development.
Improve efficiency of nutrients through better uptake or reduced losses.
Work as soil amendments to improve soil structure, function or performance to enhance plant response.

Each of these two categories has different regulatory requirements; funding from the farm bill will help ensure they’re accurately defined and tested before product launch.

Trump Approval Sky High in Ag

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:19:34 GMT

While general polls peg President Donald Trump’s approval rating in the low forties, the latest Farm Journal Pulse on the president’s approval shows solid support among those in agriculture.

President Trump’s approval in ag far surpasses a majority, reaching up to a 76% approval rating based on nearly 1,200 responses. Only 21% said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of his job as president. Three percent were not sure.

The poll is the first in a series to track sentiment on the president’s job performance amongst farmers, ranchers and ag businesses.

Polling tracking website FiveThirtyEight places the average favorable rating of President Trump in general polls at 42%. His favorable ratings range from the 38% reported by Gallup earlier this month up to 50% in a Harris Interactive poll just last week.

The high ag approval numbers follow a flurry of news from Washington that impacts rural America.

On Dec. 1, President Trump reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to stall tariff increases and pursue resolution to a growing trade war. The announcement was followed by Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and corn.

The Trump Administration announced the release of a second tranche of Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments to farmers designed to lessen the blow of price drops tied to Chinese tariffs.

The House and Senate have sent a farm bill to the White House which President Trump is expected to sign this week.

EPA announced new rules for the Waters of the U.S. regulation under the Clean Water Act which would limit federal reach in regulation of bodies of water.

While farmer support for the president comes amid a tough year for profitability, many applaud a tough trade stance against China.

“We’re all a little frustrated with what China has done on the soybean side, and just the whole grain marketing thing,” Ohio farmer Jed Bower told AgriTalk Radio host Chip Flory on Wednesday’s broadcast. “But I think we all realize that something needed to be done as far as trade overall. We’ve been taken advantage of for a long time… Now we have a president that’s willing to take on those battles.”

Farm Journal Pulse Shows Farmer Support for President Trump Is Eroding

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 03:03:02 GMT

Amid increasing tariffs and controversial biofuels policies, farmer support for President Donald Trump is waning. That’s according to a Farm Journal Pulse poll conducted this week.

The survey of 1,153 farmers shows 71% of them approve of the job Trump is doing. In July, 79% of farmers supported the president. Of the farmers who currently support the president, just 43% strongly approve, which is down 10 percentage points from July.

According to Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer, President Trump realizes support in farm country is dwindling.

“Opinion polls are signaling some trouble for President Trump,” he says. “A ‘Fox News’ poll showed Trump slipping even among groups that have long been his supporters. Trump’s support is weakening in key areas, including non-college educated whites, rural voters and small-town voters.”

This week the president acted on biofuels to try and improve his standing with corn farmers in the Midwest. Meanwhile, China increased tariffs on many agricultural goods increasing tension and indicating the trade war is far from over.

The Farm Journal Pulse is a national text message-based poll sent to approximately 5,000 farmers and ranchers in the continental U.S. The survey provides an in-the-moment snapshot of farmer sentiment on a wide range of topics, reflecting the raw, unweighted vote totals of Pulse participants.

Trump Farmer Base Strong Heading into Election Home Stretch

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:42:34 GMT

By John Herath and Anna-Lisa Laca

While national polls show President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the race for the White House, the latest Farm Journal Pulse shows continuing strong support for the president in farm country.

In a head-to-head matchup between the two nominees, 82% of the more than 1,500 farmer respondents to the Farm Journal Pulse poll said they would vote for President Trump if the election were held today. Thirteen percent said they would vote for Biden, while 5% remain undecided.

A second Pulse poll was conducted shortly after Biden tapped Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. That selection had little impact on the voting choices of Pulse respondents as only 9% indicated that having Harris on the ticket would make them more likely to vote for Biden. Forty-four percent of Pulse respondents said the selection of Harris as a running mate would make them less likely to vote for the Biden ticket.

Expect Harris and Vice President Mike Pence to come out swinging in the campaign, according to Pro Farmer Policy Analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.

“You’ve already seen Vice President Mike Pence go after her record in the ag area relative to her suggestions of reduced meat consumption relative to the dietary standards and bending more on the regulatory side, so it’s already begun,” Wiesemeyer notes.

To win the election, Harris must help the ticket attract minority voters under that age of 40, according to Wiesemeyer.

“That’s going to be the key, because that’s what helped Hillary lose,” Wiesemeyer notes. “She could not get the same number and the same categories of Black voters that President Obama did.”

Harris has a long history with the agriculture industry both as a U.S. Senator and as California’s Attorney General. Known as an advocate for farm workers and immigrants, last year Harris reintroduced the Fairness for Farm Workers Act which would require overtime pay for people who work on farms. Additionally, she has co-sponsored the Agriculture Worker Program Act which provides farm workers temporary protected status and a path toward citizenship. Harris is also a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, and in January she voted against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The president has enjoyed steady support in the Farm Journal Pulse Poll with his approval rating remaining in a range between 75% and 80% for the past year. At the time of publication, national polling averages by FiveThirtyEight show Biden with an 8-percentage point advantage in the Nov. 3 election.

“As former USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said on AgriTalk last Friday, the goal for Democrats is increasing the percentage of rural voters supporting Biden and other Democratic candidates enough so it makes a difference in key swing states,” Wiesemeyer says. “The next FJ Pulse poll will be important to see if Biden’s current 13% tally increases. If so, the Democratic Party’s plan could have some election-year impacts.”

Trump Approval Strongest Yet as He Heads to Farm Bureau Convention

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 05:33:45 GMT

As the gears of impeachment are winding up in Washington, President Donald Trump will leave the tension of the Beltway for friendlier confines in Austin Sunday at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention. This is the third consecutive year the president has spoken before the gathering of farmers and ranchers from across the country, and according to the latest Farm Journal Pulse Poll, he may receive his warmest greeting yet.

Overall job approval for President Trump ticked up a point in January to 83% of the 1,286 respondents, the high mark in the months that Farm Journal has been tracking the president’s approval. Only 16% disapprove.

“Of note is the strongly approve category went up three percentage points from an already lofty (December) number and his highest overall approval ratings ever,” notes Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer. “That says the president’s approval is rock-solid. With the recent upbeat news on USMCA and the Phase 1 accord with China, the ratings will likely remain firm ahead.”

Those rating the president’s job performance as ‘strongly approve’ rose to 64% in January, up from 61% at the end of 2019.

The President is expected to take a victory lap on recent trade wins as he speaks to the Farm Bureau Sunday, noting the phase one trade deal signed with China on Wednesday and Senate approval of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement on Thursday. Trump is expected to sign that agreement this week according to Wiesemeyer.

Wiesemeyer also expects the president to come to Austin bearing a new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule that will be more agreeable to agriculture. The Obama-era WOTUS rule was repealed by the Trump Administration in 2018. The rule defines which waters are regulated by the Clean Water Act. Farm groups argued the Obama rule was unnecessarily vague and dramatically broadened the enforcement landscape of the Clean Water Act. A strong signal that WOTUS could be in the mix at the Farm Bureau Convention is that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will also be speaking before the convention this week. (As will USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.)

A three-year string of appearances at Farm Bureau is key to the president’s electoral strategy according to Wiesemeyer.

“Trump needs the rural vote to keep the same states he won in 2016 in his win column come November,” Wiesemeyer says. “In fact, contacts say he is focusing on winning Minnesota this time (he was close in 2016) as a backstop should he lose a state he won in 2016. That means agriculture will continue to be a key topic in the president’s re-election campaign.”

President Trump is scheduled to speak at the Farm Bureau Convention in Austin after 5 p.m. Central on Sunday. The speech will be live streamed on AgWeb.com.

Farmer Support For Trump Climbs As Impeachment Vote Nears

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 05:33:45 GMT

Job performance approval for President Donald Trump has climbed to an all-time high in the Farm Journal Pulse Poll as a House vote on impeachment nears. Of the 1,225 farmers and ranchers who responded, 82% either strongly approve or somewhat approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president. That is up from 78% in the previous month.

Only 17% of respondents disapprove of the president’s job performance in the December Pulse Poll.

The poll was conducted Friday, December 13, through Monday, December 16, just days before a planned vote in the House on articles of impeachment.

“The numbers show no wavering at least among the fervent Trump supporters in farm country, most likely those who voted for him in 2016,” says Pro Farmer policy analyst, Jim Wiesemeyer. “The increase is somewhat surprising because of the growing anxiety in corn country about the upcoming Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) announcement from EPA as to whether or not the president will live up to his commitment to corn growers of at least a 15-billion-gallon corn ethanol mandate for 2020, after factoring in some reallocation of prior wavers.

“If that announcement holds, then the numbers could go even higher—especially with the more upbeat trade policy news regarding USMCA and China, the coming implementation of the U.S./Japan trade agreement, and congressional action to retroactively extend the lapsed biodiesel tax incentive through 2022,” Wiesemeyer adds.

The Farm Journal Pulse is sent to approximately 5,000 farmers and ranchers via text alert.

What Snacks Power Planting?

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 05:33:30 GMT

With planting season underway in many parts of the U.S., farmers are working long, hard hours. You’re likely enjoying meals in the field, but what’s your favorite snack to power your day?

The Farm Journal Pulse survey asked farmers just that—what’s your favorite planting snack. Granola bars won by a landslide, topping the list for 27% of the respondents. Beef jerky and chips/peanuts tied for second at 22%. Sugary snacks were at the bottom of the list with candy bars voted a favorite snack by 15% and cookies by only 14%.

Because granola bars were crown the winning snack, here’s recipe to give you the fuel you need.

Easy homemade granola bars

Granola bars are cheap but there’s something so much better about making them at home (for me, it’s extra chocolate!). I use these to fuel my long runs, but they’re really just a great snack for anything and don’t take long to make.

2 cups oats (I use steel cut)
¼ cup honey or corn syrup (honey is a chewier texture)
1 cup chopped nuts
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾-1 cup mix-ins, such as chocolate chips or raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oats and chopped nuts onto an oven-safe pan. Roast for 10 minutes to a golden-brown. Be careful not to burn the nuts and allow the dry mix to cool.

In a large saucepan melt the butter, sugar, honey/corn syrup and salt until sugar granules have melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cools, mix in vanilla and add syrup to oat and nut mixture. After the big mix has cooled slightly add chocolate and other mix-ins (the chocolate will probably melt a little and that’s ok).

Finally, add mix to a 9X9 or 9X13 greased, parchment paper-lined pan. Flatten the mix and add chocolate or other mix-ins on top. Place in fridge for 2-3 hours. After cooling, remove and cut into bars, place in sandwich bag or wrap in parchment paper. Will keep 3-4 days unrefrigerated and up to two weeks in the fridge.

What Do Biden’s Climate Policies Mean for Agriculture?

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 19:35:55 GMT

What farmers think about Biden’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030? In an April 27 Farm Journal Pulse poll, we asked:

“President Biden released a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030. For agriculture, this will be:”

Here’s how the 976 respondents answered:

4%—Positive, creating new revenue
72%—Negative, creating new regulation
14%—Positive and negative
1%—Neutral—will not impact agriculture
9%—Don’t know

Want to share your feedback? Text “Pulse” to 31313 to join the Farm Journal Pulse audience.

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