Poll results announced this week find nearly 90 percent of Americans have a favorable view of farmers and 92 percent support federal funding for farmers, such as crop insurance.
The poll, commissioned by the National Crop Insurance Services, also finds the support extends across party lines, showing that a strong farm policy is a bipartisan issue.
Jon McHenry of North Star Opinion Research, the firm that conducted the poll, says the “response is not surprising when you consider that eight in 10 voters believe a vibrant agricultural industry was critical to the country’s national security.”
More than 70 percent of voters also said they believed farmers should help fund part of their own safety net.
This cost-sharing structure is at the heart of America’s crop insurance policy, according to NCIS, with farmers paying a portion of their insurance premiums and shouldering, on average, 25 percent of crop losses through deductibles.
