A new nationwide poll commissioned by Agri-Pulse reveals that a majority of farmers and ranchers favor Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they support Republican Trump while 18 percent indicated they support Democrat Clinton. Only 2 percent plan to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and just 1 percent for the Green Party’s Jill Stein. With only two weeks until the election, 15 percent of those surveyed said they were undecided and 8 percent did not answer the question.
When the results are broken down between male and female respondents, 59 percent men and 37 percent women indicated they would vote for Trump while 15 percent males and 33 percent females responded with support for Clinton. Eighteen percent women indicated they were undecided. The GOP nominee scored particularly well in two battleground states, with support from 68 percent of the farmers and ranchers in Ohio and 58 percent in Florida.
Compared to a similar Agri-Pulse poll conducted in late January, respondents indicated an even greater dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, the farm economy and the regulatory environment.
When asked if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in America, 86 percent said they were “somewhat” or “very dissatisfied.” That indicates an uptick from another Agri-Pulse poll conducted in late January of this year. At that time, slightly over three-quarters of the voters surveyed were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Those levels of dissatisfaction were at 90 percent or higher in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“Economic growth” rose to the top when respondents were asked to identify the one most important issue facing this country heading into the 2016 presidential election, with about 19 percent nationally selecting this option, up from 9 percent in January. That was the choice of about 19 percent of the Republicans, 16 percent of the Democrats and 18 percent of the Independents.
That represents a substantial shift from the January poll, when 19 percent of Republicans and Democrats listed “national security/terrorism” as their top choice, followed by “moral values” at 14 percent, “immigration/ag labor” at almost 14 percent and “deficit reduction” at 13.5 percent. In the October poll, the second most important issue selected was “deficit reduction,” favored by about 16 percent, followed by “moral values” at 12 percent nationally. National security and terrorism dropped down to 7 percent. Read More
Export Exchange 2016, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), was held this past week in Detroit, Michigan with over 400 attendees, including some 200 international buyers and end users from more than 35 countries. The event is held every other year to bring together international buyers and domestic suppliers of coarse grains and ethanol co-products used for animal feed. 
