The American Farm Bureau Federation recently released results from its annual outlook survey of participants in its national Young farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) program. Let’s take a minute and compare some of the YF&R survey results with results from the Minnesota Corn Growers Association’s (MCGA) recent survey of Minnesota corn farmers.

Top concerns

• Securing adequate land to grow crops and raise livestock was the No. 1 concern of respondents to the YF&R survey. Profitability/economic challenges was second.
• Falling corn prices was the most concerning to corn farmers in the MCGA survey. Input and production costs were second.

Optimism

• 91 percent of the YF&R survey responders said they are more optimistic about farming than they were five years ago.
• 66 percent of Minnesota corn farmers felt that corn farmers will be better off or the same three years from now.

Communications

• 69 percent of the YF&R survey responders said communicating with the public is a formal part of their jobs.
• 92 percent of MCGA respondants said they were very or somewhat concerned about the public’s perception of new technology or agriculture practices. 92 percent said corn farmers need to play an active role in communicating with the public.

To read more about the YF&R survey results, go here. For more on the MCGA survey, go here.