Farmers remain trusted messengers

The National Corn Growers Association released a survey that shows people across the country have a tremendous amount of respect and trust for family farmers. There's also a lot of support our there for using corn for food, feed and fuel.

The nationwide survey found that 95 percent of those polled find farmers to be trusted messengers on issues such as agriculture, corn products and ethanol. Ethanol itself was supported or strongly supported as a good fuel alternative by 65 percent of those polled.

Darrin Ihnen, a farmer in Hurley, S.D., and current president of NCGA said "solid results" were expected, but "the final numbers were beyond what we imagined."

"This high level of support is gratifying, and it is also a challenge for us to work hard to maintain the trust consumers have placed in us," he said.

As for uses for corn, support was broad:

• 95 percent support its use as food for people,
• 93 percent as livestock feed,
• 67 percent support the use of corn as a sweetener,
• 65 percent support corn ethanol, and
• 73 percent support other uses of corn, such as for fiber and packaging.

For more on the report, and to download a copy, click here.