The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is encouraging producers to respond to two upcoming surveys – the December Agricultural Survey and the County Agricultural Production Survey – that are critical to row crop producers around the country. The results of the surveys help determine the structure of the 2017 farm payment and risk management programs administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency.
“We need producers to respond to NASS surveys and respond accurately,” says NASS Agricultural Statistics Board Chair Joseph L. Parsons. “Farm programs that are important to row crop producers rely on farmer-reported NASS data. When enough producers do not respond to the surveys, NASS is not able to publish data. Without these data, the Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency may not have all of the information that is needed to base the programs that ultimately serve the row crop producers. Producers can lose out when there is no data to determine accurate rates for loans, disaster payments, crop insurance price elections, and more.”
The County Agricultural Production Survey will go to 170,000-row crop producers beginning November 3. Responses are due by January 15, 2018, and NASS will publish county-level results for corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and sorghum on February 22, 2018, in the Quick Stats database. These county-level data are critical for USDA farm payment determinations.
The December Agricultural Survey will go to 84,000 producers beginning November 29. Responses are due by December 21, 2017, and NASS publishes results in the Crop Production 2017 Summary report on January 12, 2018. Information collected in this survey also feeds into the county estimates for row crops. The survey also asks about grain stocks stored on-farm.
When producers receive the surveys, they have the option to respond using the secure online questionnaire or return it by mail. NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.
These and all NASS data are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications and the searchable Quick Stats database.
Watch a video on how NASS data are used.