The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging agriculture producers in that country to respond online to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, at agcounts.usda.gov. The ag census is the nation’s comprehensive and impartial agriculture data for every state, county and territory.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture can be filled out online, or producers can wait for paper questionnaires following in December. Producers need only respond once, and all responses are due Feb. 6, 2023. Farm operations of all sizes, urban and rural, which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, USD$1,000 or more of agricultural products in 2022, are included in the ag census.
Collected in service to American agriculture since 1840 and now conducted every five years by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Census of Agriculture is a complete picture of American agriculture today. It highlights land use and ownership, producer characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, among other topics.
Changes to the 2022 questionnaire include new questions about the use of precision agriculture, hemp production, hair sheep and updates to internet access questions.
Responding to the Census of Agriculture is required by law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113. The same law requires NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and only publish in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation. NASS will release the results of the ag census in early 2024.
Read the SEP/OCT 2022 issue of New AG International, free to view here.