HARRISBURG, Pa. — Thousands of milk producers across the country, including over 4,000 in the Northeast, will receive surveys from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) as the agency collects information for the 2019 Milk Production reports.
“The dairy industry is an important component of the Northeast’s agriculture and it is crucial for us to have accurate data about this key sector,” said King Whetstone, director of the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office. NASS conducts the Milk Production survey in the region every January, April, July, and October. The survey asks milk producers to provide the number of milk cows in the herd, number of cows milked, and total milk production for the first day of the month.
The dairy industry relies on monthly Milk Production reports to make decisions about the marketing of milk. By participating in the survey, milk producers can ensure that NASS provides timely, accurate and useful data that all sectors of the U.S. dairy industry use to make sound business decisions.
“At NASS we have a strong commitment to respondent confidentiality,” Whetstone stated. “We are required by law to protect the privacy of all responses and publish data only in aggregate form, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified,” he said.
Survey results will be published in the Milk Production report on October 21, 2019. All NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/.
For more information, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.
–USDA, NASS