Poll Archive

Poll Archive

How do you prefer to read information that improves your profitability?

• Mostly online: 49%
• Mostly in print: 47%
• On my smartphone: 3%

How do you expect your corn yields this year to compare to last year’s?

• The Same: 19%
• Higher: 42%
• Worse: 37%

What do you do to limit compaction on your farm?

• Limit traffic to restricted tracks: 22%
• Nothing, I don’t have a problem: 20%
• Vertical tillage/ripping: 56%

How much do you think your corn yields would improve if you adopted a controlled traffic (tramlines) system which limited all of your implement traffic to the same tracks?

• 5%: 51%
• 10%: 24%
• 15%: 12%
• 20%: 10%

What do you expect to spend in this crop year for machinery costs, depreciation, repair and fuel, for corn following beans?

• $50-75/acre: 42%
• $75-100/acre: 25%
• $100-115/acre: 16%
• Above $115/acre: 15%

What percent of corn residue do you leave on the soil surface before planting the following year’s crop?

• 30% or less: 11%
• 30-50%: 35%
• Over 50% left: 52%

• Phosphorus fixation is a problem in most soils. What do you do to overcome phosphate fixation in your soils?

  • Nothing: 30%
  • Apply more phosphorus than soil test recommends: 0%
  • Apply as starter at planting: 50%
  • Use phosphorus enhancer product: 19%

  What does sustainability mean for you on your farm?

  • Farming so as to preserve soil, clean water and air while making a profit.: 60%
  • Heck if I know.: 0%
  • Something cooked up by left-coast crazies who don’t understand my business.: 39%

  When do you buy your seed?

  • August-September: 7%
  • September-October: 34%
  • November-December: 46%
  • After December: 12%

  How many days did it take you to plant this year’s corn crop?

  • * Three days: 21%
  • * Four days: 8%
  • * Five days : 14%
  • * More than five days: 56%

  How many glyphosate-resistant weeds do you routinely encounter on your farm?

  • *None: 47%
  • *1-2: 25%
  • *3-4 : 11%
  • *More than 4: 2%
  • *Don’t know: 13%

  South America is currently our largest competitor in exporting soybeans globally. Do you think their market share in world bean markets will grow or diminish in the next five years?

  • Grow: 55%
  • Shrink: 34%
  • Not Sure: 10%

  What mix of corn/beans will you plant this spring?

  • An Even corn/bean rotation: 57%
  • More corn than usual: 28%
  • More beans than usual: 13%

  • Do you still have unharvested corn in your fields?

    • Yes: 22%
    • No Thank Goodness: 77%

    • How do you manage nitrogen fertilizer applications to overcome potential losses from volatilization and/or leaching?

      • Nothing: 12%
      • Apply more nitrogen than soil test recommend : 1%
      • Split applications: 49 %
      • Use nitrogen enhancer product: 36%

      • What is your corn seeding rate? 26,000 seeds/acre or less: 6%

        • 26,0001 to 28,000 seeds/acre: 7%
        • 28,001 to 30,000 seeds/acre: 15%
        • 30,001 to 32,000 seeds/acre: 22%
        • 32,001 to 34,000 seeds/acre: 30%
        • 34,001 to 36,000 seeds/acre: 13%
        • >36,000 seeds/acre: 4%

        • Do you use pre-emergence herbicides?

          • No: 20%
          • Yes - Pre-emergence only without post-emergence herbicide applications: 8%
          • Yes - Pre-emergence followed by post-emergence herbicide applications: 70%

          What is your largest yield limiting variable on your farm?

          • My soils: 24%
          • My agronomic practices: 3%
          • Rainfall: 61%
          • Terrain: 3%
          • Manpower: 3%
          • Other: 3%

          What is your typical soybean seeding rate?

          • 140,000 seeds/acre: 22%
          • 150,000 seeds/acre: 36%
          • 160,000 seeds/acre: 17%
          • 170,000 seeds/acre: 24%

          How would you rank your projected net farm income for this most recent crop year, compared to the past 10 years on your farm?

          • My net farm income this year will probably fall in the top 25% of the past 10 years I’ve farmed.: 50%
          • In the top 50% of the past 10 years I’ve farmed: 31%
          • In the bottom half: 9%
          • In the bottom 25%: 9%

Who has been your favorite Secretary of Agriculture?

• Robert Bergland: 4%
• Earl Butz: 27%
• John Block: 7%
• Clayton Yeutter: 4%
• Dan Glickman: 12%
• Ann Veneman: 0%
• Mike Johanns: 41%
• Other: 0%

What has been the best farm invention in your lifetime?

• Glyphosate-resistant crops: 60%
• Management information systems: 13%
• Precision-ag technology: 13%
• Larger, smarter tractors: 7%
• Larger, smarter combines: 5%

What would provide you the biggest efficiency/profitability gains?

• Newer or bigger equipment: 27%
• More management know-how: 22%
• Better info technology and the knowledge to use it: 22%
• Additional labor: 0%
• Machinery sharing with other partners: 27%

Do you rotate your soybean varieties based on type of resistance in order to fight SCN?

• I don’t know which type of resistance my varieties use.: 26%
• Yes, SCN is a real problem for me.: 40%
• No, SCN is not much of a problem where I farm.: 33%

How likely is it that you’ll harvest 100-bu. soybeans?

• In the next 5 years: 30%
• In the next 10 years: 35%
• Not likely: 33%

What is the primary reason that you have not enrolled in a voluntary carbon sequestration program that pays you for no-till practices?

• I have enough other things to do.: 23%
• Payments for doing so should be higher.: 41%
• My operation is not suited to no-till.: 34%

Where do your best ideas come from to improve farm profitability?

• Neighbors and friends: 20%
• Farm magazines and Web sites: 24%
• Extension: 10%
• Other Web sites: 3%
• Meetings/field days: 37%
• Other: 3%

What would it take for you to use strip-till on your farm?

• I already do: 25%
• Money to buy related equipment: 32%
• More evidence that it will work on my farm.: 42%

Do you expect to be profitable this year on corn and soybeans?

• Yes: 52%
• No: 47%

Are you planning to sign up for the new ACRE program?

• Yes: 12%
• No: 64%
• Maybe: 23%

What will you pay for cash rent on good corn ground this growing season?

• Below $160/acre: 43%
• $160-190: 17%
• $190-220: 18%
• $220-260: 10%
• $260-300: 3%
• $300-350: 3%
• Over $350: 2%

Where do you turn most often for new ideas on your farm?

• My farm partners/family: 12%
• Extension: 32%
• Farm magazines: 28%
• Farm magazine Web sites: 8%
• Online farm discussion forums: 0%
• My neighbors: 20%

What is the latest you've ever planted corn?

• Second half of May: 16%
• June 1-15: 37%
• June 15-20: 14%
• June 20-25: 6%
• June 25-30: 25%

What is your main limiting resource?

• Time 46%
• Operating capital 41%
• Know-how on using new technologies 11%

What is your machinery+labor cost/acre? (This survey is anonymous.)

• Above $110/acre: 14%
• $95-110/acre: 12%
• $75-95/acre: 24%
• $60-$75/acre: 25%
• Below $60/acre: 23%

What is your biggest concern as you enter the 2009 planting season?

• Nitrogen prices: 28%
• Spring and summer weather: 42%
• Land/rent prices: 19%
• Credit: 8%

What is your strategy for spring 2009 fertilizer purchases?

• Already locked in most purchases for spring : 17%
• Waiting for fertilizer prices to come down to purchase most spring needs : 46%
• Will purchase fertilizer in increments over the next few months until spring : 14%
• Waiting for crop prices to come up to decide what to do : 16%
• Other: 5%

Who do you think will be the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture?

• Tom Buis, National Farmers Union president: 3%
• Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-SD): 37%
• Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN): 3%
• Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO): 3%
• Former Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX): 4%
• Former IA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D): 47%

What factor will most affect your acreage allocation this spring?

• nitrogen prices: 14%
• crop prices: 25%
• seed availability: 0%
• I will stick with my conventional corn-bean rotation: 59%

With the presidential election just days away, who do you plan to vote for?

• John McCain: 49%
• Barack Obama: 50%