Supplemental Supporting Statement Part B for ARMS III

SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT Part B

ARMS III

Substantive Change

OMB No. 0535-0218

This substantive change is being submitted as a supplemental supporting statement to the Agricultural Resource Management Surveys. This document identifies changes made to the Phase III questionnaires conducted in 2019 and 2020 referencing production years 2018 and 2019 respectively.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g., establishments, State and local government units, households, or persons) in the universe covered by the collection and in the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form for the universe as a whole and for each of the strata in the proposed sample. Indicate expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has been conducted previously, include the actual response rate achieved during the last collection.

There will be no changes to the sampling or universe covered by these revised surveys. Training will be provided to the NASDA enumerators so that they can respond to any questions or concerns the respondents may have relating to these additional questions. Response rates are expected to be consistent with the original approval.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information including:

• statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection,

• estimation procedure,

• degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification,

• unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures

There are no changes to the procedures used for data collection from the original approval.

3. Describe methods to maximize response rates and to deal with issues of non-response. The accuracy and reliability of information collected must be shown to be adequate for intended uses. For collections based on sampling a special justification must be provided for any collection that will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

There are no changes to the modes used for data collection from the original approval. Field enumerators will be trained to follow the skip patterns in the questionnaires and to answer any questions the respondents may have in order to minimize respondent burden.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken.

In early 2017, the Economic Research Service (ERS) proposed developing and testing 24 new research questions to add to the 2018-2020 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) Phase 3 questionnaires. The proposed topics of the questions ranged from questions related to principal producer, household net farm income, off-farm employment, health insurance, tillage activities, conservation practices, risk management, farm management business strategies, financial viability, technology access, and succession planning. Given that it was not feasible to add all of these questions to a single year’s questionnaire, along with other resource considerations, only those research questions related to tillage activities, conservation practices, financial viability, technology access and succession planning were added to the 2019 CRR questionnaire at the request of ERS.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

Survey design and methodology are determined by the Summary, Estimation, and Disclosure Methodology Branch, Statistics Division; Branch Chief is Jeff Bailey, (202)720-4008.

Sample sizes for each State are determined by the Sampling, Editing, and Imputation Methodology Branch, Methods Division; Branch Chief is Mark Apodaca, (202)720-5805.

Data collection operations are carried out by NASS Regional Field Offices; Western Field Operation’s Director is Troy Joshua, (202) 720-8220. Eastern Field Operation’s Director is Jay Johnson, (202) 720-3638.

The NASS survey statisticians in Headquarters listed below are responsible for coordination of sampling, questionnaires, data collection, and other Field Office support. Branch Chief is Gerald Tillman, (202) 720-3895; Section Head is Torey Lawrence (202) 720-5921.

September 2019

2