1. The Grocery Store and the Gas Pump: Data that Hit Home USDA-NASS DATA Dania Ferguson, Head, Environmental and Economic Surveys Section APDU Annual Conference Federal Data in a Time of Change September 2008

2. NASS Reports Over 500 National reports published annually Over 9,000 State- level reports annually Census reports for each State, Nation, and outlying areas

3. What Does NASS Do? Administer USDA’s Statistical Estimating Program Conduct the 5-year Census of Agriculture Coordinate Federal/State agricultural statistical needs Provide statistical consulting for Federal/State governments, universities, and other countries Collect and summarize agricultural data under reimbursable agreements Conduct statistical research

4. What Doesn’t NASS Do? Set policy Regulate activities Permit influence Disclose individual reports Favor any group above others Estimate production for illegal crops Economic analysis Award grants Proprietary surveys (data summaries always made public)

5. NASS Programs Commodity Statistics Economic Statistics Demographic Statistics Environmental Statistics

6. National Agricultural Statistics Service Production data on more than 120 crops and 40 livestock commodities Price, sale, expense data for $200 billion in agricultural products Environmental data related to 938 million acres Demographics on 3 million farm operators and 6.6 million household members Annual statistics program and Census of Agriculture

7. 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. Farm Definition

8. Data Sources For Official Statistics Sample Surveys Census of Agriculture Administrative Data Imports/Exports Slaughter Crush Millings Inspections

9. Data Collection Producers Objective measurement Remote Sensing

10. Production of Agricultural Commodities AcresIntended Planted - Intended for Harvest Harvested YieldForecasted Yield, Final Yield ProductionForecasted Production Final Production Livestock,Inventory, Breeding Classes, Dairy & PoultryMarket Classes, Births Commodity Statistics Program

11. Supplies of Agricultural Commodities Grain, potatoes, onions, peanuts in storage Livestock and poultry slaughter Dairy products Egg production and products Meat/frozen food/dairy products in cold storage Cotton ginning Commodity Statistics Program

12. Irrigation - area, by crop Production expenditures - feeder livestock, feed, seed, fertilizers, chemicals, machinery, labor, etc. Number farm workers Economic Statistics Program

13. Prices received - monthly and seasonal average Prices paid Prices received and paid indexes Land values, cash rents Grazing fees Wage rates Economic Statistics Program

14. Environmental Statistics Program Fertilizer Use Chemical Use –Field Crops –Fruit & Vegetables –Post Harvest –Livestock Production/Processing Practices Pest Management Practices

15. Demographic Statistics Program Number of Farms By Kind of Farm, Sales, Income, Type of Operational Structure Size of Farms Number of Acres, Livestock, by Size Farm Operators Age, Race, Ethnicity, Sex Farm Income By Size and Type Production Practices Cropping Practices, Pest Management Animal Husbandry Land Use Cropland, Pastureland, Woodland, etc.

16. Periodic Programs Agriculture Census – every 5 years Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey Census of Horticultural Specialties Aquaculture Census Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

17. High Profile Uses of NASS Data U.S. principle economic indicators Farm Bill counter-cyclical payments Disaster payment determination Group Risk policy payments and premiums Livestock compensation program EPA risk analysis in re-registration of chemicals Levels the playing field for commodity markets

18. Hurricane Impact Assessment

19. Importance - Economics Fewer farmers - each farmer very important  less than 2% of farmers produce 50% of sales  less than 7% of farmers produce 75% of sales

20. How Many People Does a Farmer Feed? Sources: American Farm Bureau Federation, National Agricultural Statistics Service

21. Importance - Economics Data used in the Economic Indicators  Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  Producer Price Index (PPI)

22. Prices Received by Agricultural Producers January 2008 Producer Prices Wheat$7.93 per bushel Soybeans$9.96 per bushel Corn$3.97 per bushel Milk$20.50 per cwt Beef Cattle$87.30 per cwt

24. Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) integrates Chemical Use and Economic data with Household data

25. ARMS data address concerns common to all agriculture stakeholders Goal: Farm profitability and environmental stewardship Safety net – financial safety net and tools to manage risk Stewardship – rewards for protecting environment New markets – opportunities to encourage innovation and improved nutrition, food security, and energy independence. Research - technical assistance & strategic land use

27. How is ARMS used? ARMS is used to perform the following functions: Gather information about the relationships among agricultural production, resources, and the environment; Determine the costs to produce various crop and livestock commodities, and the relative importance of various production expense items; Help determine farmers’/ranchers’ net farm income and provide data on the financial situation of farm/ranch businesses, including debt levels; Help determine the characteristics and financial situations of farm/ranch operators and their households, including information on management strategies and off-farm income

31. Chemical Use Surveys ARMS - Phase II collects field crop chemical use data Nursery & Floriculture Chemical Use (Triennial) Livestock Chemical Use Suspended due to budget: - Fruit Chemical Use and Vegetable Chemical Use - Postharvest Chemical Use

32. Chemical Usage Data Goals Crop-specific Fertilizer and Pesticide Usage Statistics Area AppliedNumber of Applications Rate/ApplicationRate/Crop Year Total Amount Applied

33. NASS Website – www.usda.gov

34. NASS Web Site – Quick Stats U.S., State, county database Historic data for most commodities - Planted, harvested, yield, production, price, and value Data format options http://www.nass.usda.gov/

35. www.nass.usda.gov Dania Ferguson dferguson@nass.usda.gov NASS - Fact Finders for Agriculture