Agricultural producers across the nation will soon receive the 2017 Census of Agriculture.
USDA NASS will start sending census forms December 1st. Producers can expect to receive their census form by the middle of December.
The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, is a complete count of all United States farms, ranches, and those who operate them. Greg Thessen serves NASS as Upper Midwest Regional Office Director. Thessen stresses the importance of filling out the census.
?The census is used for many different things,? Thessen said. ?Not only does it help track trends in agriculture and give a current picture of what is going on, but it is used by about everybody involved in the industry.?
USDA NASS added new questions to the 2017 census. The new questions are in regard to military veteran status and on-farm decision-making to better capture the roles and contributions of beginning farmers, women farmers and other involved in running the business. The service aims to capture a more detailed account of the industry with the new questions.
Producers can mail-in their completed census form or fill-out the census questionnaire online. Thessen says USDA NASS updated the online questionnaire, making it more user-friendly.
?It will allow them to use their smartphone, just about any electronic device. It?s also been made a little more user-friendly in that it will calculate totals for the users, it?ll jump past sections of the form they don?t need to fill-out and also provide drop-down boxes for frequent answers to different questions.
Response to the Census of Agriculture is required by law. The same law requires USDA NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and only in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any producer.
USDA NASS asks produces to complete the census by February 5, 2018. More information about the 2017 Census of Agriculture can be found at www.agcensus.usda.gov or by calling (800) 722-0828.
