Produce Safety Alliance

USDA Seeking Feedback from Southeast Growers

Dan Cattle, Dairy, Field Crops, Livestock, Specialty Crops, USDA-NASS

growers

Over the next few weeks, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will be seeking feedback from growers about 2019 crops, stocks, livestock inventories and values. NASS will be conducting two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey. They will be contacting nearly 5700 producers across Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in order to compile all of this information.

In a release, Deputy Director for the NASS Southern Regional Office Jacqueline Moore said, “When growers respond to these surveys, they provide essential information that helps determine the expected acreage and supply of major commodities in the United States for the 2019 crop year. Results from this survey are used by farmers and ranchers, USDA, businesses, exporters, researchers, economists, policymakers, and others in making a wide range of decisions that benefit you as a producer.”

Data for the June Agricultural Survey are gathered by NASS via the Internet, mail, phone, or in-person interview. For the June Area Survey, trained NASDA enumerators representing NASS visit select tracts of land and interview the operators of any farm or ranch within that selected tract. Growers are asked to provide information on planted and harvested acreage, including acreage for biotech crops and grain stocks. Additionally, the survey collects data on livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and value of sales.

NASS will analyze the survey information and publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Acreage and quarterly Grain Stocks reports, both to be released June 28, 2019.