Iowans Undecided Regarding Their Approval of Factory Farming
A survey of Iowans by the nonprofit newsroom Sentient Media found that respondents gave them an average favourability score of 46.5 out of 100 to factory farms (CAFOs), and 43% scored them exactly five out of 10, meaning they were neither in favour nor against. Republican voters gave an average of 51.1, compared with 48.2 for Independents and 41.3 for Democrats. In the results, women tend to show less support for CAFOs than men.
Respondents who had experienced at least one negative effect, such as contamination of a private well, Farmed Animals odours, or manure runoff on their property, were on the whole less likely to support CAFOs. Some 23% reported private well contamination. Those who trust the Iowa Department of Natural Resources a lot to enforce environmental regulations on Farmed Animals facilities scored CAFOs at 62.2, against 24.1 for those who do not trust it at all.
The 10-minute online survey was carried out this spring with the company SimpleOpinions, among a representative sample of 1,051 residents of the US state with the most factory farms and agricultural waste.
Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate of all US states, which may be linked to agricultural pollution from pesticides or nitrates from manure runoff.
Katie Roth, co-founder of All Votes Count Iowa, an organisation that advocates for Independent voters, said, “I think universally, some of these issues that people are concerned about are really across the board. I don’t think they’re identified with Republicans or Democrats. I mean, who can not be concerned about rising cancer rates?”
While 29% of respondents said they believed industrial Farmed Animals operations are essential to Iowa’s economy and a further 22% said they are somewhat beneficial, 49% considered themselves not knowledgeable about CAFOs or had never heard of them.
Austin Frerick, agricultural and antitrust expert and author of the book Barons, said, “It’s like looking at a forest that is dry, that’s just waiting for a match… This production model is directly impacting people’s lives in a negative way, and they feel it. At some point, someone’s going to come along and tap into it.”
