Mark Dolliver's Takes: Heart of the Country

Rural Americans do a mediocre job of living up to the stereotypes city slickers have about them. So we can gather from a rare poll that focuses strictly on residents of rural counties. Conducted for the Center for Rural Strategies by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Greener and Hook, it found just 17 percent of rural adults saying anyone in their household earns income through farming, ranching or agriculture. Fewer still, 7 percent, get at least half their income from such toil.