Southern Minnesota farmer and broadcaster Jerry Groskreutz was frustrated. Sitting on a panel discussing the public’s perception of agriculture, he said the idea that feedlots abused animals drove him crazy.

“Those animals eat better, have better nutrition, better health care, than a lot of people in this world,” he told the Farmfest gathering last week.

The overriding theme in the conversation was clear: Consumer attitudes, not farming practices, are the problem.

It’s a theme that’s been bubbling in southern Minnesota as farmers and food companies struggle to respond to rapidly changing consumer demands. Those shifting preferences are helping produce what the Wall Street Journal recently called “seismic changes” in the food business.

Much of the consumer discontent is focused on how food ingredients are produced on the farm. There are many concerns: genetic modification, pesticides, tillage contributing to global warming, water pollution from farm run-off.

Many of the giants in the food and restaurant industry have heard those concerns and are changing course after seeing sales suffer. McDonald’s buys only antibiotic-free chickens now. General Mills is pushing farmers to use more environment-friendly crop production techniques. Supervalu’s private label brand of eggs will come only from cage-free birds.

 Farmers are definitely feeling pressure. That was clear at Farmfest.

Bob Stallman, president of the nation’s largest agricultural group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers should be left alone to come up with their own solutions.

“We’re pretty darn capable of finding solutions on our own out in farm and ranch country,” said Stallman. “And we’ve proven it with respect to the environment and clean water through our conservation efforts.”