About 50,000 producers will be asked to take the Agricultural Resource Management Survey
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is asking thousands of farmers to participate in a survey.
About 50,000 producers will receive a request from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to complete the Agricultural Resource Management Survey.
Farmers will receive a code which they can use to access the survey online.
“The annual data from ARMS are used to gauge the financial health and resource use of today’s producers,” said Mississippi State Statistician Esmerelda Dickson in a statement. “The information gives us an annual snapshot of the role of the farming industry in the U.S. economy.”
The survey is typically conducted annually in three phases.
Phase I, which takes place from May through July, seeks general farm data like crops grown, livestock inventory and value of sales.
Phase II, conducted from September through December, collects data related to production practices. Farmers are asked to provide data on fertilizer and nutrient applications, for example.
And Phase III, which happens between February and April, collects whole farm finance information. This includes on-farm related income and government payments.
Once NASS staff has collected and analyzed the ARMS data, they will publish two reports from the information.
The Agricultural Chemical Usage – Field Crops report reveals data about crop protection use and pest management on between two to six crops.
And the Farm Production Expenditures report contains annual estimates of farm production expenditures.
The Economic Research Service also publishes reports using ARMS data.
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,” Dickson added.