Revised Supporting Statement A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Generic Testing – Current Agricultural Industrial Reports

OMB No. 0535-0248

This mini-supporting statement is being submitted to OMB to define the need for conducting cognitive interviews under the Generic Testing docket. No more than 100 operations that produce and/or store one or more processed items that are included in the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports will be interviewed. The interviews are being conducted in preparation for the upcoming Current Agricultural Industrial Reports (CAIR) surveys. Similar surveys were previously conducted by the US Census Bureau. NASS has made numerous updates to the questionnaires in response to feedback we received from numerous data users.

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances making collection of information necessary.

The 2014 Farm Bill requires that NASS conduct 10 of the Current Industrial Reports that were formerly conducted by the Commerce Department. The response to these surveys will be mandatory under the Census of Agriculture (Title 7 USC 2204(g)). Prior to conducting the 10 surveys, NASS will conduct a group of profile surveys to identify the target population as well as the best contact for each of the operations.

NASS plans to conduct cognitive testing on the 10 surveys as well as the profile questionnaires prior to the beginning of the live data collection.

2. How, by whom, and for what purpose information is to be used.

The information gathered through cognitive interviews will be analyzed by our Research and Development Division along with our Census Section to see if additional modifications need to be made to the questionnaires, Interviewer’s Manual, editing parameters, internet data collection instrument, etc. Approved changes will be implemented into the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports surveys, which are scheduled to begin data collection in calendar year 2014.

3. Use of improved information technology.

The cognitive interviews will be conducted by face to face interviews; and will use paper and pencil and possibly an online component. The respondents will be provided with information relating to the availability of Electronic Data Reporting (EDR) once the live surveys begin.

4. Efforts to identify duplication.

No additional efforts will be taken to identify duplication. Operators who are selected for the cognitive interviews will be drawn from our list of known processing or storage facilities. Routine duplication procedures are performed before names were added to our List Frame.

5. Methods to minimize burden of small businesses.

Up to 9 or 10 cognitive interviews will be conducted for each of the ten different questionnaires for a total of approximately 100 test interviews.

5. Consequence if information collection were less frequent.

This testing will only be conducted during 2014 as a final test before the implementation of the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports (CAIR) in late 2014.

5. Special circumstances.

There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection.

5. Federal register notice and consultation with outside persons.

Not applicable.

5. Payments or gifts to respondents.

There are no payments or gifts to respondents.

5. Confidentiality provided to respondents.

The same confidentiality that is applied to the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports will be applied to data collected during the cognitive interviews.

5. Questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Hour burden and annualized costs to respondents.

The tests will be conducted by trained interviewers to make sure that the respondents understand the intent of each question and that they are able to provide the requested information.

Cost to the public of completing the questionnaire is assumed to be comparable to the hourly rate of those requesting the data. Reporting time of 150 hours are multiplied by $25 per hour for a total cost to the public of $3,750. NASS regularly checks the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics. Mean wage rates for bookkeepers, farm managers, and farm supervisors are averaged to obtain the wage for the burden cost. The May, 2012 mean wage for bookkeepers is $17.62. The mean wage for farm managers is $35.45. The mean wage for farm supervisors is $22.31. The mean wage of the three is $25.13.

13. Total annual cost burden to respondents.

There are no capital/start-up or ongoing operation/maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

13. Annualized costs to federal government.

Costs for conducting the cognitive interviews are estimated at $60,000. This will cover expenses for staff payroll, travel, survey analysis, and any other expenses that may be incurred while updating survey materials based on our findings. Several NASS employees who have been trained in conducting cognitive interviews will travel to the agri-businesses in the selected states to conduct the surveys.

13. Reasons for changes in burden.

This supporting statement addresses the cognitive interviews of the CAIR questionnaires and the profiles that were not included in the Generic Testing docket.

13. Tabulation, analysis, and publication plans.

No data will be published from these tests. Data are for internal use only.

13. Request for approval of non-display of expiration date.

There is no request for approval of non-display of the expiration date.

18. Exceptions to certification statement.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS:

1. Respondents universe, sampling and response rate.

The Secretary of Agriculture will be submitting a formal request to the Secretary of Commerce requesting the names and addresses of the target population for these 10 surveys. The profile questionnaires that NASS will be using will help to identify the best contact person for each of the surveys. This will be especially useful in large multi location companies.

This CAIR cognitive testing information collection would purposefully sample firms identified as having features of interest for testing purposes, with locations which would minimize interviewer travel time and costs.

2. Procedures for the collection of information.

Interviewers will follow standard cognitive interviewing techniques as defined in the original Supporting Statement Part A for the Generic Clearance docket (0535-0248).

3. Information collected adequate for intended uses.

Operations with a history of cooperation to NASS surveys will be selected for this test. Non-response is not expected to be an issue for this test.

4. Test of procedures or methods.

Not applicable.

5. Individuals consulted on statistical aspects of survey.

We started out by using the questionnaires used by the Census Bureau as a base from which to work from.  We then took the feedback we received from data users and the public who submitted comments to the CAIR docket to update the questionnaires.  We also looked at the data the Census Bureau was able to publish from their questionnaires to see what additional information we would be able to publish from our enhanced questionnaires. Perry Game (NASS Census Survey Administrator) has been in continual contact with several people at the Census Bureau who previously had worked with the Current Industrial Reports. Perry has also been in regular contact with the World Agricultural Outlook Board and the Economic Research Service to make sure that all updates made to questionnaires will be consistent with their needs and any changes that have occurred in the various industries over the last few years.

The NASS census statistician responsible for the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports is Perry Game (202)690-8768, Census Section, Census Planning Branch, Census and Survey Division; Branch Chief is Chris Messer, (202) 690-8747. The statistician is responsible for coordination of OMB approval, questionnaires, data collection procedures, data processing, and field office support.

Selection of methods of testing and providing of training is done by the Research and Development Division; Chief Cognitive Research Methodologist is Jaki McCarthy, (703) 877-8000. Statistical Methodology Research Branch Chief is Wendy Barboza, (703) 877-8000.

March 2014

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