June Area Survey - News Release

NEWS RELEASE

United States Department of Agriculture

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

[STATE NAME] FIELD OFFICE

[ADDRESS]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: [Firstname] [Lastname]
[Month ##], 2013	(XXX) XXX-XXXX

USDA TO COUNT LAND USES ACROSS THE STATE

[CITY, STATE] –USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will spend the first two weeks of June surveying [dozens/hundreds/thousands] of farmers across [State] to get a clear indication of the production and supply of major commodities for 2013. NASS will compile information collected across the country into one publically accessible report to ensure the confidentiality of individual farmer information.

Through two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey, NASS will gather data on what crops have been planted and what commodities are in storage. This information will provide a comprehensive picture of how things are shaping up in 2013 for the U.S. agriculture industry.

“The agriculture survey is done online, by mail or by phone, but for the area survey, we visit randomly selected tracts of land and interview the operators of any farm or ranch on that land. We collect information on crop acreage – including biotech crops—as well as grain stocks, livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and value of sales,” said [FirstName LastName], director of the NASS [State] Field Office.

“This information is a critical component of several key national reports, including the annual Acreage report and the quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on June 28. Survey data also contribute to NASS’s monthly and annual Crop Production reports and various other crop and livestock-related publications, including USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates,” [LastName] said.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. “NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state- and national-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” stated [LASTNAME].

All reports are available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS [STATE] Field Office at [Toll-free Number].

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