SURVEY: MEMBERS TRUST FARM BUREAU NEWS SOURCES
A recent survey has shown that Farm Bureau members place great trust in Farm Bureau news and information sources.
Eighty-four percent of the members who participated hold this view of news provided by their county Farm Bureau, their state Farm Bureau or the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) – the highest of all tested communications and information sources.
Sixty percent of all farmers and ranchers (including non-Farm Bureau members) surveyed have the same opinion of Farm Bureau as a news source.
In assessments of general information sources, respondents cited Facebook as the one most frequently used. Nearly half of them refer to the platform daily. Twitter scored the lowest on engagement with farmers and ranchers.
Instagram is receiving increasing attention from agriculturists – especially with younger farmers and ranchers – with 28 percent using it on a daily basis.
But newspapers still enjoy a prime position as vehicles of information. Seventy percent of all respondents identified newspapers as trusted news sources. This means that earned media placements (gained through promotional material instead of ad purchases) should not be underestimated.
The survey was conducted by Morning Consult for the AFBF, with a sample of 1,106 members of farm households across the nation. Interviews were conducted online, July 6-13.
