Today (June 30, 2022) is the deadline for farmers and ranchers who don’t currently receive surveys from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service to sign up to be counted in the 2022 Census of Agriculture (Ag Census).
The ag census, conducted for over 180 years, remains the only source of comprehensive and impartial agricultural data for every state and county in the nation. It includes every operation – large or small, urban or rural – from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are produced and sold, or would normally be produced and sold, in the ag census year. Taken once every five years, the Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures.
Barbara Rater, NASS Census and Survey Division director, says the Census of Agriculture strives to tell the collective story of American agriculture, while also quantifying its monetary value. She says the information producers provide influences action and informs policy and program decisions that directly impact producers and their operations.
Rater says a complete count, with every producer taking the opportunity to provide their operation’s data, is important because the information is used by federal, state and local governments, agribusinesses, trade associations and all those who serve farmers and rural communities.
Key Ag Census Dates:
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June 30, 2022 – sign up ends
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November 2022 – census mails out
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February 2023 – response deadline
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Spring/summer 2024 – data release
Information collected during the Census is confidential. NASS is bound by law to only use the information for statistical purposes. NASS publishes only aggregated data, not individual or farm-specific data.
To find out more about the Ag Census, go to nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.
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