Fargo, ND – Many North Dakota producers will receive a survey to collect data that will be used to determine small grain county level acreage, yield, and production estimates for 2016. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will mail these surveys in late August to producers.
“County-level yields have a direct impact on farmers around the State. USDA’s Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering producer programs such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) included in the 2014 Farm Bill, and in determining disaster assistance program calculations,” said Darin Jantzi, North Dakota State Statistician. “NASS cannot publish a county yield unless it receives enough reports from producers in that county to make a statistically defensible estimate. So, it is very important that producers respond to this survey. In 2015, we were unable to publish several large producing counties because we lacked a sufficient number of responses.”
“As required by Federal law, all responses are completely confidential,” Jantzi continued. “We safeguard the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. Individual responses are also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.”
“Many producers respond by mail or on our secure website. If not enough responses are received from a county, we will begin contacting producers by phone or in person. County-level data for winter wheat, durum wheat, spring wheat, barley, and oats will be published in December.”
Visit https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/index.php to fill out these surveys online.