A grower’s friend
John Schlageck
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Beginning in early January, the Census report forms will arrive in mailboxes throughout rural America. If you are involved in farming or ranching in Kansas, chances are you will soon receive a 2007 Census of Agriculture report form.
Accurately completing your census form is important, says Eldon Thiessen, state director of the Kansas Field Office for the National Ag Statistics Service. Return your form by February 4. You can mail it back or, for the first time, you have the option of responding online via a secure web site, saving both time and return postage costs.
Data collected in the Census affects your future, Thiessen says. Census information is used extensively by state and federal legislators, local officials, farm organizations, commodity groups, input suppliers, commodity handlers, processors, retailers, exporters, foreign customers, universities and scientific organizations, domestic consumers, food assistance advocates, and rural communities.
“They make decisions and take actions every day that directly affect you as a producer,” Thiessen says. “Those decisions and actions affect farm program dollars, public and private grant monies, land-use planning decisions, disaster declarations and payments, crop insurance, conservation efforts, placement of stores, processing facilities, and specific local, state and national initiatives to assist producers.”
Such decisions should be based on facts from the agricultural producers, not someone’s opinion or statistics that have been provided by someone with an agenda to advance.
Thiessen says it is crucial for those on farms and ranches to provide the most accurate, up-to-date information they have about their farm and ranch operations. Kansas ag producers.
“Remember this is your voice, your future and your responsibility,” Thiessen says. “You should complete your census form because you know the results are valuable to you and all of agriculture. So make sure your segment of the industry is represented and return your form by February 4.”
All census and survey information provided to NASS remains confidential. Respondents are guaranteed by law their individual information will be kept confidential. NASS uses the information only for statistical purposes and publishes data only in tabulated totals.
“Your census response cannot and will not be used for purposes of taxation, investigation or regulation,” Thiessen notes. “The privacy of individual Census records is also protected from disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act.”
NASS offices will spend next year collecting, analyzing, and summarizing data from over 3 million census forms. Release of the results is scheduled for February 2009. Detailed reports will be published for all counties, major watersheds, congressional districts, states and the nation. “I don’t expect to convince you to rip open the census envelope with the same warm sentiments and gusto you reserve for holiday cards,” Thiessen says. “Remember, accurately completing your census form is important.”
Responding to the Census of Agriculture is also mandatory by law. Find more information about the census online at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/ by calling (888) 424-7828 or by contacting Thiessen’s office in Topeka at (800) 258-4564. F John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas . Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas , his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.