As the 2017 growing season officially comes to an end, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will contact producers nationwide to gather their final year-end crop production numbers, and the amount of grain and oilseed they store on their farms.

At the same time, NASS will survey grain facility operators to determine year-end grain and oilseed stocks.

“These surveys are the largest and most important year-end surveys conducted by NASS,” says Dan Lofthus, NASS Minnesota state statistician. “They are the basis for the official USDA state-level estimates of production and harvested acres of all major agricultural commodities in the United States, and year-end grain and oilseed supplies. Data from the survey will benefit farmers and processors by providing timely and accurate information to help them make critical year-end business decisions, and begin planning for the next growing and marketing season.”

The information will be compiled, analyzed and then published in a series of USDA reports, including the Crop Production Annual Summary and quarterly Grain Stocks report.

“Responses to the producer survey will also be combined with responses from the County Agricultural Production Survey and used in calculating county yields,” Lofthus says. “USDA uses county yield information from the survey to evaluate and administer vital farm support, disaster and insurance programs. Farmers who receive this survey are not included in the County Agricultural Production Survey. This is their only opportunity to be included in the calculation of Minnesota county yields.”

More than 13,000 Minnesota operations will be included in these two projects, he adds.

Lofthus says both the December Agricultural Production Survey and the County Agricultural Production Survey will be mailed to Minnesota farmers before Thanksgiving. Surveying begins Nov. 29.

Operators selected for the surveys can report by mailing it back or going online and completing the survey through agcounts.usda.gov.

If a mail return or online response is not received, NASS will be following up by phone or in person to collect data until the data collection period closes, Lofthus says.

The deadline for the December Agricultural Production Survey is Dec. 17. For the County Agricultural Production Survey, the deadline is mid-January 2018.

Results can be found at nass.usda.gov on the following dates.

• Minnesota state-level end-of-year estimates will be released Jan. 12.

• Minnesota county estimates will be released: Feb. 22 for corn for grain, corn for silage, soybean and sunflower; April 19 for hay; and April 26 for dry beans.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential, as required by federal law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

These and all NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov.

For more information call the NASS Minnesota Field Office at 651-728-3113.

Source: NASS Minnesota Field Office