Commercial Floriculture Survey - Information Sheet

Commercial
Floriculture Survey
United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service
December 2008

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
conducts an annual Commercial Floriculture Survey in 15 states, covering commercial
floriculture operations that produce and sell at least $10,000 in floriculture products. NASS
collects data on production, area of production, sales of floriculture commodities and the
peak number of agricultural workers per farm.

HOW ARE THE DATA COLLECTED?
Growers will be contacted by mail and asked to fill out and mail back the questionnaire. This
is the primary method of data collection. Operations that do not respond by mail will be
contacted by either telephone or personal visit.

HOW IS THE INFORMATION USED?
Once results of the survey are compiled and analyzed, NASS will publish the information in
the Floriculture Crops Summary, to be released on April 23, 2009. The report is a critical
decision-making and educational tool for growers, consumers, international buyers and
USDA and regulatory agencies. Data from these surveys will:
¾ Document the value of sales of floriculture crops – a significant contributor to farm income
and the gross domestic product.
¾ Help growers identify market trends and future needs.
¾ Provide accurate statistics that are crucial to obtaining government support and research
funding for the floriculture industry.
¾ Identify state and national trends in areas such as new product development and
changing production practices so that growers can plan the future of their businesses.
¾ Help support industry claims in cases involving unfair trade practices and in trade
negotiations.

The information provided by survey respondents is confidential by law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all
responses and publishes data only in aggregate form, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be
identified.
All reports are available through the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS
surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540.