Statewide Iowa — The latest “Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll” answers the question of what we should call the men and women who grow the crops and livestock in our state.
J. (Jay) Arbuckle runs the ISU Extension poll and says he noticed that people who work with those in agriculture tend to call them growers or producers. He put a question in the poll and the result was pretty clear, with 75 percent preferring the term “farmer.”
Ten percent said they want to be called farm operator, eight percent preferred producer, while rancher and grower each received two percent of the vote. Arbuckle says it’s not surprising, as farmer is an all-ecompassing term that indicates more of a lifestyle than a profession. But he says he didn’t anticipate that it would be as big percentage. He says everyone should know what farmers think to be able to communicating effectively with them.
He says no one seemed to ask the question before.
You can see more about the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll on the ISU Extension website.
