Midwest Healthy Ag in the News

Iowa Farmers Share Wide-Ranging Opinions on COVID-19, Finances, Health Care and Climate Change

Part of new study of agriculture across six Midwest states

Des Moines, Iowa, January 10, 2023—Iowa farmers joined nearly 100 farmers from across six Midwest states to weigh in with their opinions on a variety of topics around key problems farmers and rural communities more generally presently face.

The interviews were part of a research study conducted across Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Participants were asked questions about their farm management practices, the history of their farm and plans for its future, their health and that of their families, COVID-19, and their views on the changing climate. A report summarizing the findings was released in late 2022 by Midwest Healthy Ag, the farmer-initiated project that conducted the study.

Wide-ranging results

“One of the things we really wanted to learn about were the impacts of the differences in the types of farming done in the Midwest,” said Midwest Healthy Ag co-director Rob Wallace. “Is local community health a reflection of the kinds of agriculture pursued, for instance, out of the wide use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides? Do those who practice more regenerative production, using practices that improve soil health or promote local sales, keeping revenue more in-county?”

The first set of results the project collected helped answer some of those questions, but the results were wide-ranging, said Wallace.

“The results reflected the wide differences in the kinds of landscapes and farming conducted from place to place. That wasn’t entirely unexpected. But we learned that opinions didn’t just separate out into ‘conventional’ farmer here, ‘regenerative’ farmer there. Both the kinds of farming practiced and people’s visions of the world were both much more complicated than that.”

Impact of COVID-19

Two project researchers interviewed the farmers from December 2020 through September 2021, at the height of the pandemic. This unusual time period permitted learning how farmers fared in the face of the first serious global pandemic in a hundred years.

Opinions about public health interventions like masking and vaccinations were varied and often split families and polarized communities. Some farmers who grew organic crops and ate “healthy” thought their own immune system would protect them from the virus. Some chose to avoid wearing masks or were not interested in getting vaccinated. Other farmers were anxious to be among the first to be vaccinated due to rampant numbers of people in their communities getting sick from the virus.

Those who were located in places that were particularly hard-hit by COVID-19 were in communities with meatpacking plants or prisons, both places where the virus first spread quickly in rural Midwest. Study participants observed that seniors living in care homes suffered from social isolation and that a lack of reliable internet prevented many rural students from going to school remotely. Others farmers expressed appreciation for more family time and the availability of more hands to pitch in on farm chores.

Contrary to expectations, many farmers in the study experienced some of their best financial years on record. Those who sold meat and vegetables directly to consumers saw a high volume of sales as people cooked more at home. Some benefited from Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government that were eventually forgiven. Those who grew crops and raised animals on a large scale benefited from federal subsidies. On the other hand, many were not able to sell their animals on schedule due to shutdowns at packing plants.  

Farmers on health care and climate change

Health care and health insurance were a topic of great interest.

“Some of what we learned verified things we suspected,” said Iowa farmer and project co-director, Ann Wolf. “The majority of participants stated that at least one family member must work off-farm for needed health insurance.”

Study participants shared that farming is a hazardous occupation because of accidents with animals and machinery. But many admitted that they worried about other unknowns.

“Health insurance is protecting us from the cancers. One million dollars to treat a cancer would bankrupt us,” one Nebraska farmer said.

Mental health care is often difficult to receive in rural areas, and many people in the study benefitted from the creation of telehealth that permitted them mental health care for the first time, particularly when anxiety and depression loomed.

Participants were also asked about weather-related experiences on their farm over the past five years. Many experienced extraordinary flooding, excessive soil moisture prohibiting planting or harvesting crops on schedule, and increased soil erosion. Others spoke about drought and the suffering that went along with crop failure.

At the same time, when asked about climate change, more participants than not shared that they didn’t see climate change as an issue that affected them. Other interviewees stated they already were changing some of their farm management practices just in case. One Illinois farmer said he was “buffering against whatever comes my way.”

Those who used regenerative farming practices such as pasturing animals and working to improve soil health shared they saw excellent results weathering the new extremes of too much or not enough precipitation.

Next steps

The researchers aim to continue to analyze the results of the study now summarized in their “Across the Fence” report on the Midwest Healthy Ag website. The team also plans on following up.

 “Life was so unpredictable for farmers in 2021,” said agricultural researcher Carolyn Betz who conducted the interviews with anthropologist Serena Stein. “I’d love to keep in touch with those we met during this unprecedented time and see how they are doing now.”

The project was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the country’s largest philanthropic organization dedicated to access to health care, public health and health equity. The Midwest Healthy Ag team is available for interviews, workshops, and other outreach opportunities at info@midwesthealthyag.org.