This survey helps determine who should receive a 2027 Census of Agriculture
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is preparing for the 2027 Census of Agriculture through a different questionnaire.
Beginning Jan. 24, the USDA will begin distributing the National Agricultural Classification Survey.
This survey “is a nationwide effort to identify potential agricultural operations in the United States,” the USDA’s website says.
About 250,000 people will receive the survey, asking if they conduct any agricultural activity.
Responses are required by law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113 for all who receive the questionnaire.
“This survey helps illustrate the breadth of American agriculture and enables USDA to get a complete count of all farmers and ranchers,” Hubert Hamer, administrator of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, said in a statement. “Even if a recipient believes that the survey does not apply to them, we ask that they respond to the few screening questions.”
The questions include if a person sold any livestock in the last 12 months, received federal or state ag payments, and what their total grain storage is.
Ultimately, the USDA is trying to determine how many farms are in the U.S., based off the department’s definition.
The 1974 Census of Agriculture established a farm as “any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year.”
The responses gathered in the ag classification survey help USDA ensure all eligible farmers receive a Census of Agriculture and are represented in the data.
For farmers who filled out forms for the 2022 Census of Agriculture, that data is coming soon.
The USDA will release that data in February 2024.