By Michele F. Mihaljevich

Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Farmers who didn’t participate in the 2017 Census of Agriculture have until June 30 to register for the 2022 version. Census forms will be mailed to producers in November.

The census is conducted every five years. A farm is eligible if it produced (or would normally produce and sell) crops and/or livestock with sales of $1,000 or more during the census year. Farmers who don’t receive other USDA surveys or censuses should also register, the agency said.

The census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, according to USDA.

“For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future and their opportunity,” the agency noted. “The data inform policy and program decisions that directly impact producers, their operations, industries and communities. A complete count, with every producer getting and taking the opportunity to be represented in these data, is vital.”

David Knopf, regional director for the Eastern Mountain Regional Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), encouraged producers to participate in the census later this year.

“The census is one of the best ways for agriculture to tell its story,” he explained. “It has a great story. More and more it needs to tell its story. With supply chain issues, the situation in Ukraine, severe drought (in some areas of the country), those of us who like to eat are more dependent on farmers to produce the foods we like to eat.”

The census includes data down to the county level, the only time NASS publishes local information, such as acreage, in such detail, Knopf added.

Producers who receive a form are required to return it, even if they no longer farm, he said. “We’re not interested in punishing farmers (who don’t return the forms),” he stated. “We want the information. We do end up sending forms to people who are landlords. We need them to respond, even just to tell us they aren’t the ones using the land.”

The participation rate for the 2017 census was 71.5 percent. It was 80.1 percent for the 2012 census.

“Some people will look at the form, then set it aside and say they’ll do it later,” Knopf pointed out. “Some people are opposed to the government, to USDA and don’t want to be a part of it. Some don’t want to share personal information.”

The amount of acreage devoted to hemp will be among the new questions in the 2022 census, he said. The 2017 census was about 16 pages, though Knopf said not all the pages will apply to each person.

“After each census, the agency polls stakeholders about what they’d like to see in the next census,” he said. 

Producers will have until February 2023 to return their completed forms. NASS is encouraging as many people as possible to submit their information online, Knopf said. Data collected from producers will be released in the spring/summer of 2024.

To register, visit www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/.