Census of Ag Content Test - Questionnaire Changes

2012 Census of Agriculture Content Test

First round questionnaire changes

January 2010

Section	Item
New Items
1- Acreage	Add question for number of acres of land rented on an Animal Unit Month (AUM) basis
1- Acreage	Add questions for per acre cash rental rate for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland, and pasture.
X- Equine	Move equine questions to a separate section and test two versions: one asking for horses owned by the operation and then the total number of horses on the operation, the second version asking about the horsed owned by the operation and then the horses on the operation that are NOT owned by the operation.
15 – Chickens and Turkeys	Replace the “Poultry” section with “Chickens and Turkeys.” Add c. Turkey Brooders – birds for further growout on another farm. Other Poultry will be collected in a “Poultry, Other Animals, and Livestock Products” section.
XX –“ Poultry, Other Animals, and Livestock Products.”	Change “Other Animals and Livestock Products” section to “Poultry, Other Animals, and Livestock Products.”
18 – Colonies of Bees	Add new questions about number of bee colonies rented and acres pollinated by owned and rented bees.
20 – Production Contracts and Custom Feeding	Add Dairy replacement heifers
22 - Organic	Reduce “Organic Agriculture” section to screen for organic production and value of organic sales. (More comprehensive information is obtained on organic agriculture in the Organic Production Survey which follows the census.)
23 – CCC Loans	Add question for the amount spent to repay CCC loan(s) in 2012.
27 – Farm Labor	Add question asking for the number of migrant workers.
33 – Type of Organization	Add “Is more than 50 percent of the ownership interest in this operation held by the operator and persons related to the operator?”
33 – Type of Organization	Add question asking if operation is Limited Liability Company (LLC).
34 Operator Characteristics	Add “In what year did the operator begin to operate any farm?”
34 Operator Characteristics	Add a question to determine if operator 2 or 3 is the spouse of the principal operator.
Energy	Add questions asking about presence of on farm renewable energy systems, lease of wind rights, and liquid fuel production
35 - Conclusion	Collect email address
XX Land Use	Add: Acres drained by tile? Acres drained by ditches? Acres under a conservation easement? Cropland acres under conventional tilling? Cropland acres under reduced tilling? Cropland acres under no till? Cropland acres planted to a cover crop?

Deleted Items
Section
32 Practices	Use more than 5,000 gallons of water in any one day for any purpose?
32 Practices	Have a barn that was built prior to 1960?
32 Practices	Remove AUM from practices section.
34 Operator Characteristics	What was the total household income of the principal operator in 2007?
Moved Items
Value of Sales	Value of sales for all commodities was collected in a single section in 2007, this will now be collected within the commodity production sections, eliminating the Value of Sales section

Additional changes were also made to format and layout of the form, and some of the items pre-listed on the form were changed.