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by Susie Taylor

Most Ohioans believe that "farming should always be in Ohio even if some farms need to expand to stay in business," according to a poll conducted for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

Of those polled, 83 percent either strongly agreed or agreed with the above statement. And 74 percent ranked farmers third in their trustworthiness – behind only firefighters and nurses.

"Farmers have always been ranked highly as being trustworthy," said Pat Petzel, OFBF director of promotion and education. "In this poll, farmers ranked higher than physicians and law enforcement personnel."

Results from the survey were released last month. The "Ohio Statewide Perception Study" was prepared for OFBF by Opinion Strategies Inc. of Columbus. Registered Ohio voters were contacted between May and July. The margin of error was calculated at +/- 3 percent with a 95 percent confidence level.

More than 500 people were contacted statewide and asked to rate their views of farmers and the environment. They also read several statements and asked if they strongly agreed, agreed, somewhat disagreed, strongly disagreed or had no opinion.

Several open-ended questions were asked including what they felt when they heard the words "Ohio farmer" and "environmentalist."

"We’re pleased with the results," Petzel said. "But the really useful information deals with what we as an organization can do better to promote Ohio agriculture."

When asked what they thought about Ohio farmers, respondents said the words "hard working," "vegetables" or "produce," "food providers" and "good people" or "honest" came to mind. Here are some other points:

• 86 percent said they strongly agreed or agreed with the statement: "I enjoy living near farms or I think I might enjoy living near farms."
• 91 percent said: "I would rather live next door to a farm than a shopping mall or housing development."
• 93 percent acknowledged that "Living near farms might mean tolerating occasional bad smells, sharing the road with large equipment or at times tractors working late into the night – but that’s OK since farmers are just trying to do their jobs."
• 97 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: "Many farms are located in rural areas. Since so many people want to build houses in rural areas, farming in Ohio should be phased out."
• 95 percent said: "Farming contributes to Ohio’s economy by providing people with jobs and producing products to sell or trade."

Only 36 percent agreed that "As a percentage of my income, food expenses today cost me less than they did for my grandparents’ generation." Twenty-three percent of respondents have heard the slogan: Ohio farmers are naturally resourceful. Every day is earth day to a farmer was recognized by 26 percent of respondents. Ninety-three percent had never heard of Food Check-Out Day.

"Those are the areas where we can do some more work," Petzel said.

• 87 percent said they thought farmers protect the land and water resources.
• 87 percent agreed that a farmer growing crops or raising livestock could be considered an "environmentalist."

"The results of the study were extremely positive," Petzel said. "It’s very important we continually measure for results with the work we do."