Public Perceptions and Policy Imperatives: Animal Agriculture and the Environment

¹ Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907

One of the greatest impacts upon animal agriculture in the coming decade will be the public goal of improving the environment. Those affected will be frustrated by the ill-defined nature of the goal, the difficulty of communicating with the public, public perceptions of risk and uncertainly, and the proxy issues that emerge because of ill-defined or hidden goals. The real impacts of this process will be unfair by traditional democratic terms. There will be serious consequences for industry size and structure. Important issues under discussion now include payment incidence, targeting, and enforcement. What will be essential for survival for the animal agriculture industry is a demonstrated good faith effort to meet the most important public goals. This effort must be measurable and verifiable, and the building of public trust and confidence will be critical to success.

Key Words: policy • public perception • agriculture • environment

Submitted on July 12, 1994
Accepted on January 17, 1995