Public Perception and the Future of the Illinois Dairy Industry
Abstract
Problem statement: Illinois dairy production is shrinking both absolutely and relative to other states. If historic trends continue growth will come from larger, more technologically and economically efficient dairy operations. Several expansions that could have slowed the decline have been thwarted by community opposition. This paradox, the need for change versus resistance to growth in dairy farming, motivated the study upon which this article was based. This study explored the reasons for the conflict with rural residents. Approach: A mail survey was conducted to identify characteristics correlated with a tendency to accept dairy as a neighbor. Results: Community acceptance was associated with residence in a traditional "dairy county" and with having other dairy experience. New residents in growing urban areas are less tolerant of dairy. Conclusion: Illinois dairy developers may face less opposition by looking for demographic characteristics that correlate with a favorable view.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2010.324.329
Copyright: © 2010 C. Matthew Rendleman, Phillip R. Eberle, William C. Peterson, Livy Coe and Nathan Schotte. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Keywords
- Dairy
- survey
- rural-urban conflict
- public perception and the future of the Illinois dairy industry