Who Are Farmers Voting For?

A few weeks ago in the Ambrook Research newsletter, we put out a call to our 80k+ subscribers, curious to hear their thoughts on this year’s presidential election. Then, after Harris had been swapped in for Biden, we asked the question again.

Most of our readers are farmers and food producers, or work in some kind of related industry (e.g., ag academia, public sector, etc.), so the answers provide a look into how food producers are feeling on the eve of a historically monumental election. Obviously there are a million variables that can skew a survey like this, but it still gives some compelling insight into the varied feelings at play right now.

Note: We’ve included first names, professions, and state for some respondents. Others preferred full anonymity.

I will 100% be voting for Harris and Walz. Thank you, have a great day.

-Suzanne, Ag Researcher, Montana

I have been a Republican for most of my life, but I have not and will not vote for Donald Trump. I will be voting for the Harris/Walz ticket.

-Anonymous, North Dakota

I’m voting for Trump. The failed policies of Biden’s administration is awful. Harris doesn’t know any better than to do what joe was doing (or whoever was telling joe what to do).

-Dan, Dairy Farmer, Wisconsin

I will be voting for Harris/Walz. Nice to have a Midwesterner on the ticket.

Sad that my vote will be dismissed due to being in a “Red state” and the biases of the Electoral College system; I have voted in every election since 1976 and will continue to do so as long as I am capable of it. I consider myself to be a very patriotic American.

Really enjoy your newsletter. (Editor’s Note: Aw, thanks!)

-Jessica, Ecology Professor, Indiana

Election - who will I vote for. Democracy, of course. The vaunted Man/Woman in the Arena- who strives- and fails. Gets up- strives and fails again.

Who has squandered its position time and time again. Maybe this time, we’ll get up, and make a stand on the oratory of what we always pretended we stood for.

Harris/Walz absolutely no question.

-Rick, Fruit Farmer, California

Voting for RFK whether he makes the ballot or not. He’s the only one who’s addressing the real issues. Plus he’s hot for an old guy.

Sara, Soil Health, Massachusetts

I am a registered Republican.

I will only vote for Kamala Harris and Walz!

Bruce, Third-Party Management, Iowa

Kamala of course.

Never voted for the Orange Menace, never will. Never could figure out why anybody would.

-Barbara, Regenerative Farmer

Regardless of the fact that one candidate is a demonstrable hollow vessel with no ethical core, and the other is an accomplished professional with a sense of social justice … this election is fundamentally about the choice between democracy and autocracy. All else is distraction.

-Anonymous

I’ll be voting for the candidate who still wants to preserve democracy in the United States, Kamala Harris. Democracy is important to me. Yes, it’s messy and complex, but it still represents the voice and will of the people far better than any autocracy, oligarchy or authoritarian system, which is what Trump has always wanted to do.

-Monica, Nevada

Small farm farmer and Trump 100%! Tired of this country not having a backbone. All other countries laugh at us over Biden and Kamala.

-Lacy, Farmer, Tennessee

As cattle ranchers, my family will be voting for a candidate who has not promised to change the food pyramid to reduce the consumption of red meat because they believe it will save the climate. (Link included.)

-John, Cattle Rancher, Pennsylvania

2 retired farmers and our 2 daughters: all voting for Harris and would have voted for Biden. We are all extremely against trump.

-Connie, Retired Farmer

I’ll be voting for Harris/Walz. I’m a Republican, but Trump is not and I have never voted for him. I have voted for an independent candidate in 2016 and Biden 2020. Trump’s attacks on China that caused our markets to tank and spurred on acreage expansion in Brazil are STILL costing the American farmer money! Plus, any president who tries to turn over an election to stay in power can’t be trusted with that power ever again. We had a chance to nominate a replacement, but blew it.

I do like Walz on the ticket! His experience with agriculture is stronger than any person in the White House since Harry Truman. So it will be interesting to see how the campaign uses that in bringing attention to ag and rural issues. Having said that, I’m not comfortable with all their liberal positions, so I hope that either the Senate or House stay in Republican hands if Harris wins.

-Paul, Crop Farmer, North Dakota

Me and my family will be voting for Trump.

-Darrell, Cattle Rancher, Montana

Trump is the only option for President for any sound minded, USA loving, God fearing, American.

Respectfully, a 4th generation farmer/rancher, entrepreneur, business woman, of mixed race from around the world.

-Krista, Farmer/Rancher

I will be voting for Trump. Harris had her chance to do something for the country and failed miserably.

-Bruce, Pecan Farmer, New Mexico

Rancher, voting for Trump! I live on a ranch about 60 miles from the border. The land has been in my family since 1946 and we’ve never had people cutting our fences and running through our fences until the current administration came into power. The stress, expense and sheer frustration my husband and I deal with daily because of traffickers destroying our property and also not feeling safe on our land are 100% the fault of the current administration and their policies. That’s the 1st reason, 2nd is the insane cost of everything from groceries to feed to fuel, I don’t feel like we’d be in this shape if Trump was president.

-Rachael, Rancher, Texas

We’ll be voting for Trump. He’s far from perfect, but light years ahead of the Maoist team of Harris/aWalz.

-Todd, Farmer, Idaho

Frankly I don’t understand why any small business, rancher or farmer would not vote for TRUMP!!! A vote for the other is a vote for socialism, anti-American and anti-agriculture end of story!

-Leslie, Cattle Rancher, Texas

I’m voting for Harris/Walz which is a vote for the environment among many other things.

-Chris, Produce Farmer, South Carolina

I am absolutely voting Harris-Walz. The other ticket is a pair of anarchistic reactionaries who care only for power. Unfortunately neither party is saying enough about soil and water conservation, energy conservation, natural resource conservation in general. Those aren’t perceived as catchy enough.

-Josiah, Grain Farmer/Rancher, Iowa

Maintaining and improving our democracy, opportunity to vote, as much honesty in politicians as possible, etc. is more important than an individual policy that affects my economics.

-Trish, Ag Professor, California

This election is an easy but unsatisfactory choice. The Republicans are apparently going to nominate a criminal and incipient dictator while the Democrats are offering a fairly successful, reasonably decent incumbent President. (Editor’s Note: This response came before the Biden/Harris switch.) I’d rather both were younger and neither had the baggage they do, but there really is no choice. Trump has no business being anyone’s nominee for any public position.

-Dave, Retired, Missouri

About the upcoming election, what I feel is absolutely terrified. I voted for one of the candidates in the last election, but I will not vote for him again. The thing is, it doesn’t really matter which candidate wins. I think we’re going to have major problems.

If Biden wins, I think that Trump supporters will be rioting in the streets. This concerns me to the point where my entire family is slowly stocking up on everything just in case we don’t want to go out.

If Trump wins, I am scared of what is going to happen on a more international basis. I think that both our friends and enemies around the world see him as a complete nutcase. I am scared of how they are going to react. Also, he has already said he will pull us out of NATO. This could lead to all kinds of other problems, including war in Europe. If this happens, I’m sure we will get sucked in at some point and since I have two draftable age grandchildren, I am really scared.

I do not see this as a TEOTWAWKI event, however, I am really, really concerned. We are so concerned that as I said earlier, we are stocking up on everything possible, getting all our vaccines updated, rescheduling any appointments that are currently set from November through February and generally trying to do everything we can to be prepared for some rough months.

-Anonymous, Produce and Livestock Farmer, South Carolina

I am very disappointed with the US presidential election. I remember a quote from Jim Hightower that represents my sentiments about this year’s election, “If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates.” I appreciate many of the things that Joe Biden has done but he does not understand rural America. We need a new Secretary of Agriculture and more aggressive antitrust actions to fight the tyranny of the market. Trump will strengthen the tyranny of the market and claim that he solved the problem. He is not interested in learning about rural America, he thinks that more concentration, and more tyranny of thoughts will solve everything.

I won’t follow either one. I won’t endorse either one. I won’t donate to either one. I will vote for Biden.

-Rick, Farm Lobbyist, Wisconsin

I’m a 77 year old organic foods industry veteran who “retired” into an organic vegetable CSA farm for 10 years. I’m very interested in preserving a healthy local, national, and worldwide environment and I’m working to grow a vibrant local food system here in southeast Michigan, taking part in my county and township land preservation and sustainability efforts. Federal environmental safeguards and protections were put into place during the Obama administration which were subsequently erased or eroded under the Trump administration. The current Biden administration has strengthened environmental protections again and has furthered actions to mitigate the troubles ahead from climate change. I greatly fear another 4 years under Trump, 4 years that could be the most dangerous to our democracy and environment than under any other administration, ever. The recent assumed presidential candidate mudslinging “debate” between Biden and Trump both sadden and concern me greatly. There is an incredible pool of smart and highly intelligent, aware and energetic talent in this country willing to do what it takes to lead our country in ways of sustainability and equity. I’d like to see new and inspired younger people taking the reins of government.

-Timm, Produce Farmer, Michigan

Biden must win. Our democracy depends on it. The Supreme Court is already a sham. The Senate is a danger. A president who recognizes they are the only thing between the American Public and a complete collapse of our democracy is essential.

I am already taking steps to safeguard against the grim situation the alternative represents, but fear for the worst.

-Nancy, Medical Research, Pennsylvania

I’m a retired Navy Officer, retired naturalist, have a Masters in Political Science, and now a supplemental income farmer raising sheep, turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, and produce. Neither candidate is near ideal. But if Trump is re-elected, I predict the end of The United States and our way of life as we know it. I suppose some people will think that that is good. I don’t.

It means run away prices for even common commodities, disappearance of the middle class and a society not composed of degrees of those who have and have not, but trending toward the rich are haves and everyone else a have not. When you are destitute and don’t have the basics, who cares if it is illegal to steal food? You steal to live. Those with arms and willing to exert force and violence, will, for a time, rule. The values this country is based upon are sound and excellent. The implementation of all of those values and self-serving interpretation of laws over time has been less good, especially our race record.

As a political scientist, who also lived and studied abroad, the American people do not realize the globally stabilizing role that the U.S. with its basic, constitutional values, and its past reliability as a supporting partner with like-minded nations have kept world chaos at bay. Domestically, I do not like Trump because he lies he has said things, when recordings make it perfectly clear he has said those things and is lying. He lies for convenience like no one before him. It is blatant, yet people ignore it. How can one support a candidate who says he is going to be a dictator from day one? No one is above the law, no matter how powerful. Read this article.

-Caryl, Produce Farmer, Virginia

My situation is an organic (trying regenerative) dairy farmer, also as a mayor of a small Idaho town. I think that the disparity of approach between organic/regen and conventional farming is a good metaphor for the political situation we find ourselves in. Organic/regen farming is all about health in the soil and practices that will allow synergistic relationships between plants where natural, healthy, sustained growth of plants and livestock, without toxins or an inflow of more and more fertilizers and herbicides to continue high yields and clean fields that are the basis for conventional paradigms. As long as the latter practices are employed, the soil -and even the environment- will not improve and often even digress.

This nation and its motivated voting citizenry should be politically involved, starting locally in ways that build families and communities, that allow for healthy relationships with each other. So we grow the fruits of honor, freedom, and decency to our fellow citizens. The homes and communities are like that healthy soil. But as the meddling federal govt continues to spray on more and more grants (fertilizer) and regulation (pesticides and herbicides), America’s citizenry will look more and more to govt programs for a continued abundant life and not to the relationships and efforts at the home and community level to solve their problems. This approach is leading to toxins in my own community and is leading to the same and is not sustainable on the national level.

No party or serious political movement is really taking this on, because few even recognize the problems in this out-of-balance federal govt we now have. It feels with every passing election the consequences are getting more dire, but I feel like that’s similar to the conventional farming system that we’re seeing continued production from, but less nutrition, less ability to shirk the paradigm to find a better way.

I could develop this further, but hopefully you get my point. Thanks for the question.

-Duke, Dairy Farmer/Mayor, Idaho

I am a single-issue voter. I don’t want to send my sons and daughter to WW3. Thus, I will close my eyes and vote for Biden .

-Jack, Grain Farmer/Rancher, Kansas

The presidential election is a horse race between two old nags. (Editor’s Note: This response came before the Biden/Harris switch.) Both are beholden to the Aristocracy of Billionaires. It is a national disgrace that we are not “allowed” to choose a leader who will bring the citizens together. Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Yet neither of these men promise to work toward a more perfect union. The nation of citizens suffers with no end in sight. As farmers, we take a back seat, receive subsidies rather than open markets, as the two parties bribe us to support their side.

-Michael, Cattle Rancher, California

If Trump is elected again, our country will be subjected to what it does not deserve: loss of freedom and democracy as we have worked to preserve. The word “compromise” will disappear from the dictionary. We are entering an age when facts from truths are no longer discernible or important. Trump is working hard to destroy trust such that when chaos prevails, he will raise his hand and say “Follow me.” Where? 1984, George Orwell.

-William, Ag Professor, Florida