A new poll from Agri-Pulse shows that national security and terrorism are among the top issues for farmers going into the 2016 election, and in turn, billionaire businessman Donald Trump has a slight lead as their choice for president. This article from Agri-Pulse says the poll, conducted in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association, shows Trump with a slim lead over GOP rival Sen. Ted Cruz, with 18 percent favoring Trump and 16 percent liking Cruz. Hillary Clinton garners slightly more than 10 percent of farmers’ support, with Gov. Jeb Bush (9 percent), Sen. Marco Rubio (6 percent), businesswoman Carly Fiorina (5 percent) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (3 percent) posting support as well.

Poll participants were also asked to rank the importance of 15 national and international issues impacting the race for president. Sixty-six percent of respondents rated national security as a top priority while 57 percent said the same about terrorism. Fifty percent selected “renewable fuels” as a top priority, followed by “regulatory issues” (48 percent), crop insurance/farm bill/farm policy (44 percent) and immigration (33 percent). The issue of climate change received the least attention with just 11 percent of respondents citing it as a high priority for them in the presidential campaign.

Other highlights from the poll included:

– Nearly 37 percent of respondents said they’re planting cover crops to improve soil health and nutrient management. Rye was the most popular cover crop seeded followed by radish and oats.
– When asked who they would prefer to conduct additional research on environmental, land and nutrient management issues, 73 percent of farmers cited state universities followed by Iowa Soybean Association (55 percent), Iowa State University Extension (45 percent) and private companies (33 percent).
– Even with substantially weaker commodity prices, there appears to be somewhat of a stalemate on cash rent negotiations with landlords – 36 percent of the farmers surveyed were able to lower cash rents to be paid in 2016; 37 percent were unable to do so.
– Of those who successfully reduced cash rents, about a quarter of the farmers lowered rents by 6-20 percent.
– Nearly three of four farmers surveyed have taken action to reduce 2016 input costs. Fifty-four percent said they have successfully reduced seed and fertilizer expenses while 26 percent have cut insecticide expenses.
– Soybean prices are lower, but farmers harvested a bumper crop in 2015. Forty-one percent saw a 10 percent bump in soybean yields while 27 percent said they tallied an increase of 20 percent. Twenty-eight percent of farmers said they harvested either the same or fewer bushels this year than average.