North Dakota's field office for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service is traveling to farms across the state to collect agricultural data from producers for the 2008 annual June Agricultural Survey.
The survey provides estimates for the total planted acreage for the 2008 crops. The June survey, one of the largest, most comprehensive agricultural surveys, is conducted each year by USDA's NASS during the first two weeks of June. This year's survey began May 27.
The June area survey "is one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys conducted each year by NASS," Darin Jantzi, director of NASS North Dakota Field Office, says in a press release. "This survey provides timely, accurate and useful information on the current condition of U.S. agriculture."
Sample sections of the state's farmland are chosen for the survey, says Kara Hagemeister of the NASS office in Fargo, N.D.
NASS officials will carry detailed aerial photographs with them to the farms they visit. Once the NASS official has a farm plotted on the photograph, the data collection begins. The reps collect data on sale and land values, cash rent, grain stock, crop acreage, current operated acreage, livestock and poultry inventory, farm numbers and biotech crop acreage.
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Personal interviews with farm and ranch owners are to be expected. The surveys are unique to the farmsteads and each farm's use.
Survey time
A large amount of information can be gathered at each farm in a short amount of time, Hagemeister says. The average estimated survey time is based on Office of Management Budget, she says, and can take up to 20 minutes or as little as five.
"We appreciate the farmers taking the time to answer the questions and understand that it's a busy season, but the state is important," Hagemeister says.
Each NASS survey attempts to include every acre, agricultural activity and use of the farm land. This form of survey is developed to provide timely, accurate and useful information for the health of the U.S. agricultural community. The surveys will cover about 39.4 million square miles of farm land throughout North Dakota.
These surveys provide direct agricultural data that will be used throughout the year in other surveys and studies conducted by NASS. The data is used in reports such as the monthly crop production report; cattle, hog, sheep and goat inventory reports; and the annual acreage report. Farmers need not worry any breach of confidentiality.
"NASS safeguards the confidentiality of all response and publishes only state and national level data, ensuring that no individual operations or producers can be identified," Jantzi says.
"Missing the NASS field representatives will not be a problem," Hagemeister says. "If a farmer were to be gone when the field representatives stopped by, a business card stating when to expect the next NASS visit would be left. Though not everybody leaves one. Sometimes they just stop by again."
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NASS asks its reps to make at least three attempts to contact a farmer. The field survey visits wrap up June 10.
