Minnesota farmers are being asked to participate in two surveys conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service over the next couple of months.

Selected growers are being contacted now through Oct. 10 for the County Ag Production Survey. They will be asked about small grain acreage and yield to develop production reports that are needed to set acreage and production estimates by county.

Selected growers are being contacted through Sept. 15 for the September Ag Survey. They will be asked about small grain acreage, yield, production and on-farm grain stocks for all major crops.

“The data provided by producers will help federal and state programs support the farmer,” says Dan Lofthus, Minnesota state statistician. “I hope producers take the time to respond if they receive this survey. They can lose out when there is no data to determine accurate rates for loans, disaster payments, crop insurance price elections and more. When enough producers do not respond to surveys, NASS is not able to publish data. Without data, agencies such as USDA’s Risk Management Agency or Farm Service Agency do not have information on which to base the programs that serve those same producers.”

NASS representatives are contacting selected Minnesota growers to arrange telephone or in-person interviews to complete the survey.

According to NASS, the agency safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified, as required by federal law.

State and national results from the September Ag Survey will be published in the annual Small Grains Summary and the quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released Sept. 30. County-level survey results will be published Dec. 12 on the NASS Quick Stats database.

For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Minnesota Field Office at 651-728-3113.

Source: NASS Minnesota Field Office, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.