Iowa: Economic Poll Gets Lukewarm Response

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Iowa’s Business Record is out with the results of its annual readership poll. This is the 15th year the publication has conducted this unscientific survey, and this year’s responses are mediocre at best. Of the 61 respondents participating, 31% said the state’s economy would improve slightly in 2026, while 23% said it would regress slightly and 21% thought it would “stay about the same”. Respondents expressed the usual grab bag of concerns such as tariffs, elevated prices, health care and availability of labor, but the overriding worry among participants in this survey was the health of Iowa’s agriculture economy and the resultant pressure on farm income. An interesting feature of this Business Record poll is that respondents’ names and companies are identified along with their comments.

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