Farmers and Ranchers Can Take Part in the 2017 Census of Agriculture
Tuesday, November 14th, 2017 -- 10:10 AM
-America’s farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to represent agriculture in their communities and industry by taking part in the 2017 Census of Agriculture.The census is conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and is scheduled to be mailed at the end of this year to obtain a complete count of all U.S. farms, ranches, and those who operate them. The Census of Agriculture highlights land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, and other topics. The 2012 Census of Agriculture revealed that over three million farmers operated more than two million farms, spanning over 914 million acres. This was a four percent decrease in the number of U.S. farms from the previous census in 2007; however, agriculture sales, income, and expenses increased between 2007 and 2012. This telling information and thousands of other agriculture statistics are a direct result of responses to the Census of Agriculture.
Producers who are new to farming can learn about the Census of Agriculture report form by visiting www.agcensus.usda.gov. NASS defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year (2017). Law requires all those who receive a Census of Agriculture report form to respond even if they did not operate a farm or ranch in 2017.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.