SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is collecting data from approximately 50,000 farmers and ranchers for its annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS).
The survey looks at all aspects of U.S. agricultural production, the well-being of farm households, farm finances, chemical usage, and various farm production characteristics. The survey also collects detailed information on production practices, costs, and returns for different commodities on a rotating basis. In 2020, the survey will take a closer look at corn, rice, soybean, hog and pig production in the United States.
In Illinois, the sample size will be greater than 4,000 and the target commodities will be corn, soybeans, and hogs and pigs. Questionnaires will be mailed to producers on May 14.
At this time NASS has suspended in-person data collection. Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to complete their survey online at agcounts.usda.gov with the 17-digit survey code that was mailed to them.
“Data from ARMS are used to gauge the financial health and resource use of today’s farmers,” said Mark Schleusener, the NASS State Statistician for Illinois. “The information gives us an annual snapshot of the role of the farming industry in the U.S. economy.” Reports from producers will influence national and state policy-making decisions. In addition, ARMS data are used to calculate the farm sector portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is an important measure of the U.S. economy.
The survey is conducted in three phases from May 2020 through April 2021. The current (first) phase screens participants to make sure they have the commodities of interest that are needed to accurately represent the entire U.S. farm sector. During the second phase, NASS will collect information on production practices and chemical use for specific commodities. In the final phase, NASS will survey producers on farm income and production expenditures.
“We strongly encourage every producer contacted for ARMS to participate, as their response represents not just their own farm, but many other similar operations across the country,” added Schleusener. “To make responding as safe and convenient as possible, the survey should be completed online at agcounts.usda.gov. Online reporting is fast and secure. Producers can also complete and mail or fax the paper form to us.”
All information from respondents is kept confidential, as required by federal law, and reported so that no individual operation or producer can be identified. For more information on how NASS protects information, visit www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality.
ARMS is a joint effort of NASS and USDA’s Economic Research Service. For more information about the 2020 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, visit nass.usda.gov/go/ARMS.
— USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
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