Farmers still have time to be counted in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The original due date was in early February.
Although the deadline for submitting the ag census has passed, NASS will continue to accept completed census questionnaires through “the end of spring” to ensure all farmers take advantage of the opportunity to be represented in the widely used data.
“(We’re) actually running a little bit behind pace of the 2017 census. We’ll be collecting information through the end of the spring,” says NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “It’s very important that we have the most accurate information… for farm policy and other decisions that will be made affecting agriculture.”
He reminds producers that this data is used for more accurate administration of USDA programs and local decision making.
“If you look at some of the weather patterns we’re having, you have disasters almost every other week. For farmers to be made whole, you need information to help identify: What are the commodities in those areas? What are the prices of those commodities?” Hamer says as an example. “When you start looking at the Farm Service Agency programs. They use a lot of information from the Census of Agriculture.”
NASS will continue to follow up with producers through the spring with mailings, phone calls and personal visits. Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to complete their ag census either online at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail as soon as possible. The online questionnaire is accessible on desktop, laptop, and other mobile devices.
Federal law mandates that everyone who received the 2022 Census of Agriculture questionnaire complete and return it, even if they are not currently farming. The same law requires NASS to keep all submissions confidential, use the information for statistical purposes only, and publish aggregate data to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation.
NASS will release the results of the ag census in February 2024, Hamer says.
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