Reply to Public Comment from Univ. of Hawaii

U nited States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Census and Survey Division

Survey Administration Branch

April 15, 2013

TO: Mike Kawate

Pesticide Registration Specialist

University of Hawai’i

Cathy Tarutani

Educational Specialist

University of Hawai’i

FROM: NASS Clearance Officer

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Room 5336A, Mail Stop 2024-S

1400 Independence Avenue

Washington, DC 20250-2024

RE: Renewal of the Honey Survey, Docket Number 0535-0153

Thank you for sharing your ideas for improvement to the NASS honey program, we appreciate your concerns and for taking the time to respond to the Federal Register.

Expanding the survey to collect data on colony health and colony losses is beyond the scope of the Honey Survey. NASS has met with members of the industry and realizes the need for additional data in this area. However, NASS does not have the funding to expand the current survey to increase population and sample sizes, data collection, editing, summarization, analysis, and estimation. Therefore, at this time, the request to expand the survey is denied pending further funding. Should appropriate funding become available, NASS would be interested in working with the Western Integrated Pest Management Center and the University of Hawaii to improve the honey program.

NASS now offers the option for respondents to complete the Honey survey online by using our Electronic Data Reporting (EDR) system. At the beginning of data collection period, producers are mailed a letter with instructions for completing the survey online. Each letter contains a unique survey code that respondents must enter to access the EDR system. This measure is in place to ensure the security and confidentiality of the responses. Online data collection allows the respondent to skip questions that do not pertain to them, and it saves taxpayers dollars that would otherwise be spent on data entry or return postage.

If you or members of your group would like to discuss this further, please contact me at the telephone number or e-mail address provided below.

Response provided by:

Bruce Boess

Head, Poultry & Specialty Commodities Section

USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service

Phone: (202) 720-4447

E-mail: [email protected]