Preparing for Census of Ag

The USDA’s Census of Agriculture survey doesn’t go until December, but producers should begin the preparation now.

USDA Statistician Dave Losh said farmers and ranchers should keep track of what goes in this year.

“It’s really important to be counted because there are a lot of situations, down to the county level, where decisions are made about agricultural land and services for farmers. If it’s not known that there are farm operations out there, then the wrong decisions can be made.”

The Census of Ag is done every five years with the survey focusing on what happened during 2017 with results released in 2019.

Losh said they are also taking steps this year to make sure that women farmers are better accounted for.

“Sometimes for tax or legal reasons, an operation can be, for example, in a man’s name, but the woman– even though she’s making day to day decisions for the operation– is not listed.”

NASS is currently working to identify as many farmers and ranchers as possible given the frequent transitions of ownership.