NASS Busy with June Ag Data Collection

NASS June data gathering

NasslogoUSDA’s National Ag Statistics Service is collecting data for the June surveys on crops and livestock. NASS is now surveying U.S. producers and visiting tracts of farm land to collect information. Responses to these surveys provide the foundation for estimates in the upcoming growing year and will first be released in the Acreage and other reports on the last day of this month, according to NASS Pacific Region Director Chris Messer.

“We actually have two surveys that we conduct in the June time frame,” she explained. “One is an area frame component where our interviewers are out speaking with producers within boundaries of selected land segments, and they gather information on acreage, land use, grain stocks, livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and values of sales. The second survey is our June agricultural survey where we actually request the number of acres planted to particular commodities and the stocks stored on-farm of wholegrains and oilseeds.”

NASS representatives are making personal visits to farmers for the area survey. The June Agricultural survey will be sent by mail and can be completed online. Messer says the information provided by farmers plays a critical role in determining the current crop outlook.

“The estimates coming out of these two June surveys are really going to give us the potential production for the 2016 crop year and the supply of major commodities coming down the line. That’s important to know for a variety of people from the producers themselves on up to people in research or academia who may be looking to monitor trends or emerging issues.”

Messer says farmers can use the data to finalize their cropping and marketing plans this year, while the industry looks to the reports to gauge exports.

“Certainly this would give them an indication of the potential export market, and for those university and researchers, they would probably be interested in the data for a long term data series to analyze trends, and also to see if there are any emerging issues that might be uncovered.”

The first reports will be released Noon, Eastern Time, June 30th. Other reports using the data will be released later in the year, and all NASS reports can be found online at www.nass.usda.gov.

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