Lucy Norris

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

April 23, 2019
Lucy Norris
Subject: Changing organic standards and naming conventions. – Docket Number 0535 – 0249

Dear Lucy,
Thank you for your recent letter concerning the renewal of the Organic Survey. The primary
functions of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare and issue State
and national estimates of crop and livestock production, disposition, and prices and to collect
information on related environmental and economic factors, whole farm characteristics, and
operator demographics. Timely, reliable, and detailed statistics help maintain a stable economic
atmosphere and reduce risk for production, marketing, and distribution operations. NASS is the
primary data collection Agency of the US Dept. of Agriculture. The Agricultural Marketing
Service or AMS is the primary regulatory Agency over the Organic Standards.
The content of the Organic Survey has been developed over the years at the request of numerous
data users, including, but not limited to: Risk Management Agency, Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation, Agricultural Marketing Service, Economic Research Service, Natural Resource and
Conservation Service and many others. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will
be conducting cognitive interviews in the upcoming months to improve the questionnaire. NASS
is also looking for ways to streamline the questionnaire while still providing data users with the
data they need.
The Organic Survey is extremely important to our data users. Your comments will be provided
as a part of this submission to the Office of Management and Budget.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Again, many thanks!
Digitally signed by JOSEPH PARSONS
DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government,
ou=Department of Agriculture,
cn=JOSEPH PARSONS,
0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=1200100005
0032
Date: 2019.04.29 09:56:30 -04'00'

Joseph L. Parsons
Chair, Agricultural Statistics Board
U.S. Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

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