American Notes

Honesty may still be the best policy -- but it is not always the one they are following out on the back forty. In a poll of readers by Farm Futures, a Minnesota-based agriculture magazine (circ. 205,000), more than half the respondents thought farmers' ethical standards had slipped during the past 10 years, and 30% admitted that they occasionally stretched the rules. The lapses often involved cheating on income taxes and government programs. Red tape seems to be a leading cause of the ethical backsliding: 60% of those polled agreed that "it would be impossible to make a living if farmers followed all the rules and regulations made in Washington." Environmental concerns also took a back seat to economic self-interest, says Claudia Waterloo, Farm Futures' editor in chief. "Only 70% of the farmers we surveyed said they'd notify authorities if pesticides spilled into a creek."