A survey conducted for the Iowa Farm Bureau finds high costs at the supermarket remain the primary concern among most Iowa consumers.
Zach Bader, the bureau’s digital marketing manager, says it’s getting more and more expensive to feed a family as prices aren’t retreating on most key products.
“Eighty percent of people say that they’re concerned about government regulations that increase food costs,” Bader says. “Over the years, we’ve seen that price is always the top one or two factors for people when it comes to purchasing meat, milk and eggs.”
He says there’s little change from last year’s report which found a jump in grocery prices of more than 23-percent between 2020 and 2024.
“We’ve got 47% of consumers, nearly half, who are saying that they’re very concerned about government regulations that would increase food costs and that has more than doubled since 2021,” Bader says. “Price has always been important, but these last couple of years here especially, and again in this year’s survey, we’re really seeing it come home as a big issue for consumers.”
This is the 12th year for the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Food & Farm Index. The survey showed a solid majority of Iowa consumers trust Iowa farmers, with eight in ten saying they’re confident Iowa farmers care for animals — and the environment — responsibly.
“That trust in farmers surpasses what they see for other highly respected professions,” Bader says. “At a time when trust in national institutions and organizations and things like that is at somewhat of a low here, the sustained confidence and trust that they’re seeing in farmers is really an outlier for occupations and institutions.”
The survey also found nearly nine in ten Iowa shoppers say it’s important farmers have flexibility to use a variety of farming practices to provide consumers with different choices and price options at the grocery store.