SEPTEMBER AGRICULTURAL SURVEY PLANNED BY AG STATISTICS SERVICE

SACRAMENTO - More than thirteen hundred California farmers and ranchers will be part of a national sample of producers in a survey by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

The survey will be conducted during the first half of September. The information gathered will be used to make state, regional, and national estimates of small grain crops production, stocks of grain, and oilseed.

The California farmers selected for the survey will be notified by letter.

“We are asking for full cooperation from farmers contacted by the statistics service,” said CDFA Secretary William (Bill) J. Lyons, Jr. “We must ensure that California agriculture is accurately represented in all  estimates and assessments of production.”  

In addition to general release to the public and press, the survey findings will go to government policy makers and farm organizations, which use the survey results to help develop policy positions.

Other users include state governments, universities, extension agents, farm management consultants, agricultural lenders, and businesses that supply inputs to farmers.

"This survey is important in making accurate crop estimates, which provide a basis for an orderly marketing system," said Vic Tolomeo, who heads the California Agricultural Statistics Service, a division of the national service. "An orderly marketing system is essential to all involved in agriculture."

Facts about an individual's farm or ranch are strictly confidential and will be used only in combination with reports from other farmers to produce agricultural statistics for California and the nation.

After results of the survey are compiled and analyzed in Washington, the information will be released in a series of reports.  Those who participate in the survey will receive a special summary of the results for the state and the nation.

Find agricultural statistics for your county, state, and the nation at            www.usda.gov/nass/

 -30-