Whether Republican or Democrat, farmers name “national security” or “terrorism” as the most important issue facing the United States, far outweighing any agricultural issue, says a nationwide survey by Aimpoint Research.
Forty percent of Republican farmers said they would vote for billionaire Donald Trump for president and 49 percent of Democrats backed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton — the same level of support Trump and Clinton have among party members in general. Proving the rule of thumb that farmers are social and fiscal conservatives, 68 percent of farmers identified themselves as Republican in the poll commissioned by Agri-Pulse; the U.S. average is 25 percent.
When asked by Aimpoint, “What do you view as the one most important issue facing this country?” 19 percent of farmers replied national security or terrorism. Moral values, immigration/ag labor, and deficit reduction tied for second, at or near 14 percent apiece, followed by economic growth at 9 percent. The sixth-ranked issue was “farm bill,” at nearly 8 percent. Independents listed deficit reduction first, at 16 percent, followed by national security and moral values. National security led among Republicans at 20 percent and Democrats at 18 percent.
Farmers are much harsher than Americans in general in assessing President Obama’s job performance. Farmers disapprove 3 to 1 while Americans split evenly — and hold Congress in much lower regard than Obama, with a disapproval margin of more than 4 to 1. The response to whether America is going in the right direction or wrong direction was nearly identical to the job-approval rating of the president.
“They [farmers] want to elect someone who can make major changes,” said Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse editor.
The farm population, at 3.3 million, is a sliver of the U.S. population of 322 million. Agriculture is a political power, however, because of its influence among processors and exporters and a history of targeting its goals narrowly and building alliances broadly.
Issues often mentioned in agricultural discussions got little attention when Aimpoint asked farmers to name the most important issue. Environment and climate change each got a 1-percent response, federal regulations, 2 percent, renewable energy, 3 percent, and “ag/farming issues” 4 percent.
In the survey, 18 percent of farmers said they are Democrats and 17 percent said independent. Pollster says 31 percent of Americans identify themselves as Democrat and 33 percent say the are independent.
Some 750 farmers, who operate at least 200 acres, were interviewed by telephone in the nationwide survey conducted from Jan. 22-26. The margin of error for results was 3.6 percent, said Aimpoint.