CLEWISTON — An American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) poll released last week heartened executives at United States Sugar Corporation, and they are sharing the results with pride.

Judy Sanchez, senior director of corporate communications and public affairs, said, “It’s always nice to see positive news coming out during this pandemic, and the continued good, hard work of American farmers feeding American families safe, home-grown food has certainly been at the top of the good news lately.”

She shared a report from the American Farm Bureau’s newsroom, explaining, “This recently released American Farm Bureau (report) shows Americans’ trust in farmers is on the rise!” Sanchez said U.S. Sugar executives were also encouraged by findings regarding “trust in local farmers’ good work on the environment — particularly on water quality and air quality.”

She noted that one question, “about how positive people responded when GOVERNMENT DATA was used ... is particularly relevant for Glades farmers, as almost all of our environmental data comes from state, local and federal government agencies. Yet, most times, activists groups ignore the actual data in favor of their own disinformation or bumper-sticker science because it fits their anti-farming agenda.”

The AFBF poll found that “a majority of U.S. adults have a positive view of farmers’ sustainability practices, and an overwhelming majority trust farmers.”

The highlights pointed out by USS from the AFB’s summary:
• “Nearly nine in 10 adults (88%) trust farmers, a 4% increase from AFBF’s June 2020 polling, which is evidence the public recognized that food supply chain challenges brought on by the pandemic were not within the control of farmers and ranchers.”
• “More than four in five adults also say feeding the world (84%) and farmers passing farms on to future generations (83%) are important.”

• “Support for farmers’ sustainability efforts swelled when government data was shared about achievements. More than eight in 10 Americans (81%) were impressed when they learned that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department, farmers have put 140 million acres in conservation programs, more than doubled the amount of renewable energy sources they use, and nearly tripled the amount of food grown in the last 70 years with the same or fewer resources.”
• “Nearly half of adults (45%) correctly ranked agriculture as the smallest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector. According to the latest EPA data, agriculture accounts for 10% of total U.S. emissions, far less than the transportation, electricity production, commercial and residential, and industry sectors.”

Results of the survey of 2,200 adults are available online at www.fb.org/newsroom/poll-shows-americans-unwavering-trust-in-farmers-and-approval-of-sustainabi