A survey of 1,500 Ohio farmers with $50,000 or more in sales from farming was conducted during March and April 2004 to assess farm environmental issues and programs. Responses numbered 613, with 525 usable for this analysis. Compared with the 2002 U.S. Census of Agriculture, respondents in our survey earned a larger share of gross farm income from grains and oilseed, as well as from dairy; but a smaller share from horticultural and greenhouse crops, as well as from poultry.
Tillage Practices: Farmers who rented land used no-till more often than did full owner operators. Tillage practices of part owner operators were similar on owned and rented land.
Environmental Best Management Practices: Grass waterways were the most common best management practice. Approximately 40% of respondents reported having them. Over half of respondents with a best management practice on owned land reported that they did NOT receive government payments for installing these practices.
Conservation Compliance: Thirty seven percent of respondents had a written Conservation Compliance plan for highly erodible land (HEL) that they owned. Implementation of the plan required 38% of these respondents to change tillage practices. Analysis of the survey data found that Conservation Compliance was associated with a greater use of conservation tillage not only on HEL land but also on non-HEL land.
Participation in Farm Conservation Programs: One quarter of respondents had participated in farm conservation programs. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) had the highest participation rate (15%). Next highest was the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) (6%).
Participation in Watershed Groups: Seventeen percent of respondents had participated in watershed group activities near their farm. The recent growth in watershed groups is illustrated by the finding that half of the participating respondents had done so since 1995.
Farmer’s views towards Environmental Issues: The responding farmers overwhelmingly agree (93%) that water is an important resource that needs to be protected. Only 15% agree that water pollution is a major problem in their area. Even fewer agree that farming is a major source of water pollution in Ohio (10%) and that farming activities contribute more to water pollution than do non-farming activities (5%). Eleven percent agree that government should regulate farming practices to improve water quality while 47% think government should pay farmers for adopting conservation practices.
The complete document is available here:
http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/resources/Farmer_Conservation Decisions_04.pdf