NASS Comments

AMS – Dairy Products Mandatory Sales Reporting

Item B 1 & 2 – You mention that you will be doing a complete census of all dairy plants producing 1 million pounds or more of cheddar cheese, butter, dry whey, or nonfat dry milk. You do not mention how the list building will take place to get these names and addresses.

You mention the one million pound minimum of production to be included in the sample. Is this a requirement for a single item, or can they have a combined total of 1 million pounds (example 500,000 pounds of butter and 500,000 pounds of cheddar cheese)?

Item B 3 – You mention that the reporting of data will be done electronically and that it is mandatory. You do not mention the laws or citations that allow AMS the authority to conduct this mandatory survey. You should also list the penalty for non-response and when it will be implemented.

In the event that a plant does not complete a report or a report is only partially completed, you will need to address how the data will be weighted or expanded to adjust for non-response.

Item 4 – You mention the different levels of analysis. You need to elaborate on the use of revisions and for misreported or missing historical data.

For the data users who rely on dairy product price data trends, you will need to elaborate on the dual testing of data. NASS will continue to collect the data as we have historically and AMS will begin collecting the data by use of their new internet survey. The data should be analyzed to explain any discrepancies that may occur with the data. Issues such as changes in: data collection periods, publication dates, adjustments for non-responses, etc. Is Supporting Statement – Part A, you need to address which months the simultaneous surveys will be conducted.

David Hancock

(These are just some random observations I made based on my conversation with AMS)