Support and Concern for Ag
Support and Concern for Ag. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
Oregonians generally support agriculture's use of water but aren't as approving of pesticide use. Those are two key findings of a new public opinion survey focusing on important issues facing
HORNING: There is a high percentage of Oregonians- 75 percent or more in most cases- that believe, outside of human consumption, agriculture should have access to water over fish, over wildlife, over landscaping, over retailing. That's incredible.
Geoff Horning is executive director of the Oregon Agri-Business Council, which spearheaded the survey. On the flip side, public perception of pesticide use by agriculture is not so positive as 32 percent rate it as fair or poor. They also blame pesticides more often than other factors for water quality problems.
HORNING: I think the word pesticide has negative connotations right off the top, so it's automatically the perceived villain when it comes to water quality issues.
Information from the survey is expected to lead to a public campaign to help Oregonians improve their understanding of agricultural activities. In some cases, it might even change some opinions about farmers and ranchers. Horning says the survey included questions that gauge public opinion of conventional agriculture and its use of pesticides versus organic production, with some unrealistic responses.
HORNING: Roughly 50 percent of Oregonians believe that full 100 percent organic practices would be sufficient to feed the world. Science, research, and knowledge knows that is not the case.
Horning says even with the positive results about agriculture's use of water, it will be important to develop messages and information to reinforce those opinions.
HORNING: I definitely think there's always going to be a need to continue to engage Oregonians on these issues. While they think of us favorably right now, we all know that it just takes one thing to turn the needle the other direction.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
