Public Support of Payments to Agriculture Producers

American citizens play important roles for agricultural policy as voters, taxpayers, and consumers. Without public support many of the federal agricultural programs farmers rely on to weather economic downturns and natural disasters could wither. As such, farmers need to be aware of public perceptions of agricultural support programs. Fortunately, the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey (GFAPS) conducted by the University of Illinois Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics helps gauge public support for agricultural programs. The survey has been conducted quarterly since May 2022 and involves approximately 1,000 consumers. The latest survey was conducted in November of last year. Figure 2 shows the public's support for types of agricultural payments across eleven waves of surveys.

Public support is highest for payments in response to natural disasters and for subsidies to offset the cost of crop insurance. Payments to mitigate natural disasters received the approval of around 80% of respondents, while crop insurance subsidies were supported by roughly 75%. On the other hand, only 45% of respondents supported payments to offset lower-than-expected crop prices. The low support for these kinds of payments is intriguing given that in December Congress passed $10 billion in economic relief assistance payments for farmers to offset low prices. According to the University of Missouri, Nebraska is projected to receive $625 million in payments, around 7% of the total behind Texas, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. Payments to mitigate financial losses from trade or export restrictions garnered around 50% support, second-lowest among payment types.

FIGURE 2. PERCENT OF PARTICIPANTS WHO SUPPORT EACH TYPE OF AGRICULTURAL PAYMENTS

Source: Coppess, J., M. Kalaitzandonakes and B. Ellison. Reviewing Public Support for Payments to Farmers. Farmdoc daily (15):11, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, January 15, 2025.

The GFAPS surveys provide a perspective on what citizens who are not so immersed in agriculture think about agricultural support payments. The results offer insights for producers and agricultural organizations on the types of payments the public is more or less likely to support. The results also serve as a prod on the need to constantly remind the public that supporting agriculture during turbulent or economically stressful times can benefit consumers too.