Survey: Energy Causes Concern
Published: Friday, April 7, 2023
Indiana Farm Bureau surveyed members on key policy issues to help shape future priorities and programs. The 2023 Spring Member Survey, which was conducted over a 10-day period in early March, received more than 1,200 responses and a substantial amount of feedback on hot-button issues like land use, infrastructure and trade.
When asked about renewable energy projects, 64% of those surveyed said they support such projects in their county. However, almost 70% of respondents said they didn't want those projects happening on farmland and were very concerned or extremely concerned about farmland being transitioned away from agriculture for renewable energy projects.
"Private property rights have always been important to Indiana farmers but seeing the concerned responses about land use and farmland loss reaffirmed our focus on the need to keep Indiana farmland in production," said Randy Kron, INFB president.
When asked about their role in the food supply chain, 95% of Farm Bureau members agree they play an important role in addressing food access or security.
Some other areas of note from the survey responses:
• Over 60% of members said they had not seen improvement in broadband connectivity over the last year.
• Besides broadband, roads and bridges were the next infrastructure issue members are most concerned about.
• 88% think the U.S. should expand international trade for agriculture.
• The top issues that members are concerned will affect farm profitability over the next 24 months are inflation, input prices, lower commodity prices and increased regulation.
"We were pleased with the significant number of responses we received in our spring member survey since this is the first time we've reached out to our members with multiple touchpoints," said Debra DeCourcy, APR, INFB executive director of marketing. "The fact that we've gotten great response to these important questions gives us a tremendous amount of feedback to consider when shaping Farm Bureau policy, as well as programs and events that meet the needs of our members."
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