Cash Rents Methodology and Quality Measures

Cash Rents Methodology and Quality
Measures
ISSN: 2167-129X

Released August 3, 2017, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA).

Cash Rents Survey Methodology
Scope and Purpose: The Cash Rents Survey is conducted not less than every other year and the June Area Survey is
conducted annually. Both surveys obtain acres rented and cash rental rates from farmers and ranchers in the United States
excluding Alaska. These surveys provide the basis for estimates of the current year’s cash rents paid for irrigated
cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and permanent pastureland. Estimates of irrigated and non-irrigated pastureland are not
established due to the scarcity of irrigated pastureland. State, district, and county level cash rent estimates are published,
pending compliance with disclosure rules and publication standards.
The cash rents estimates derived from these surveys supply basic information needed by farmers to make decisions for
both short-term and long-term planning. These estimates may be used by individual producers in planning for their
agricultural operation or by Agricultural Extension Services or university staff in developing operating budgets for
agricultural operations in their locale.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) was directed through the
2008 Farm Bill as amended by the Agricultural Act of 2014 to collect cash rents data for use by the Farm Service Agency
(FSA) in program administration. The amended Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Section 2110, states, “The
Secretary (acting through the National Agricultural Statistics Service) shall, not less frequently than once every other year,
conduct a survey of per acre estimates of county average market dry land and irrigated cash rental rates for cropland and
pastureland in all counties or equivalent subdivisions within each state that have 20,000 acres or more of cropland and
pastureland.”
Survey Timeline: The Cash Rents Survey data collection period begins in mid-February and ends in early July. Data
collection is coordinated with other surveys being conducted during this period. Also during June, cash rents data are
collected on the June Area Survey. National and state level cash rents estimates are published in August for all states,
excluding Alaska. District and county level cash rents estimates are published in September.
Sampling: The target population for the cash rents estimate program is all farms and ranches with $1,000 or more in
agricultural sales (or potential sales) who rent land from others on a cash rent basis. The Cash Rent Survey sample is
selected from a list frame of farm and ranch operators maintained by NASS. NASS is constantly seeking qualifying
farming operations from outside sources to be added to the list. A profile, known as control data, of each operation is
maintained which indicates what the farm has historically produced and a general indication of size. This information
allows NASS to define sampling populations that are specific to each survey and employ advanced and more efficient
sample designs.
Samples for the Cash Rents Survey are drawn with a county level stratified design to produce state, district, and county
level estimates. Large operations in each county are stratified into the census strata, where all are included in the sample.
The national sample size for the Cash Rents Survey is approximately 280,000.
The June Area Survey utilizes an area sampling frame for national and state level estimates. The area frame contains all
land in the United States (except Alaska) and is therefore complete for the cash rents program. The frame in each state is
divided into segments of land. For more intense agricultural regions, segments are about one square mile in size. An
optimal sample is selected in each state with a national sample size of about 11,000.

Data Collection: All federal data collections require approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). NASS
must document the public need for the data, show the design applies sound statistical practice, ensure the data does not
already exist elsewhere, and show that the public is not excessively burdened. The Cash Rents questionnaires must display
an active OMB number that gives NASS the authority to conduct the survey, a statement of the purpose of the survey and
the use of the data being collected, a response burden statement that gives an estimate of the time required to complete the
form, a confidentiality statement that the respondent’s information will be protected from disclosure, and a statement that
response to the survey is voluntary and not required by law.
Data collection for the Cash Rents Survey is mainly conducted by mail and telephone. The initial mail-out occurs in midFebruary followed by a second mailing in early April. A letter is enclosed with the questionnaire for the respondent to
complete and return by mail. The questionnaire can also be completed securely online. Non-response phone follow-up is
conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) at Data Collection Centers from April to July. Personal
interviews are limited to large operations or those with special handling arrangements, with data collected on either a
paper form or by a Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) instrument.
Data collection for the June Area Survey is conducted by a personal interview. Enumerators must account for all
operations and land contained in their assigned segments. Enumerators interview and collect responses from the end of
May through mid June. Survey questionnaires are returned to Regional Field Offices (RFOs) where they are visually
reviewed and key entered.
Survey Edit: As survey data are collected and captured, they are edited for consistency and reasonableness using
automated systems. The edit logic ensures administrative coding follows the methodological rules associated with the
survey design. Relationships between data items on the current survey are verified and, in certain situations, items are
compared to data from earlier surveys to make sure certain relationships are logical. The edit determines the status of each
record to be either “dirty” or “clean” (i.e., failing or passing the edit requirements for consistency and reasonableness).
Dirty records must be updated and re-edited, or certified by an analyst to be accurate. Corrected data are re-edited
interactively. Only clean records are eligible for analysis tools and summary.
Analysis Tools: Edited survey records are processed and analyzed with interactive data analysis tools which display data
for all reports by item. The tools provide scatter plots, tables, charts, and special tabulations that allow the analyst to
compare record level data with previously reported data for the same record, and reported data from similar records.
Atypical responses and unusual data relationships are revealed by the analysis tool. RFO and Headquarters (HQ) staff
review such relationships to determine if they are correct. Data found to be in error are corrected, while accepted data are
retained.
Nonsampling Errors: Nonsampling errors are present in any survey process. These errors include reporting, recording,
editing, and imputation errors. Steps are taken to minimize the impact of these errors, such as questionnaire testing,
comprehensive interviewer training, validation and verification of processing systems, application of detailed computer
edits, and evaluation of the data via the analysis tool.
Nonresponse Adjustment: Response to the Cash Rents Survey and June Area Survey is voluntary. Some producers
refuse to participate in the survey, others cannot be located during the data collection period, and some submit incomplete
reports. These nonrespondents must be accounted for if accurate estimates of cash rental rates are to be made. For the
Cash Rents Survey, nonresponse adjustments are made through reweighting techniques applied to the data from reporting
farms and ranches.
For the June Area Survey, item level nonresponse is accounted for by imputing data where there are missing values.
Imputed values are calculated through an automated imputation algorithm that requires a minimum of five complete
reports within the imputation group to calculate the imputed value. When a group lacks a sufficient number of responses,
groups are collapsed according to a defined hierarchy, preserving as much of the homogeneity as possible, until five
complete reports are identified. The first imputation group is reports within the same segment. If five complete reports
are not found, the imputation algorithm then moves on to reports within the same county and similar strata, then all
reports in the same county, followed by all reports in the same district, and lastly, all reports in the state.
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Cash Rents Methodology and Quality Measures (August 2017)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Estimators: The Cash Rents Survey uses a “reweighted” estimator to compute direct measures of acres rented for cash.
Each farm and ranch in the sample has an initial sampling weight. This is the inverse of the sampling fraction. For
example, if a stratum has 1,000 farms in the population and 200 are sampled for this survey, each sampled farm has a
weight of five. In other words, each sampled farm represents five farms. The reweighted estimator uses a global weight
adjustment across all usable reports. Using the previous example, if 180 of the original 200 respond, the weights of the
180 will be adjusted to 1,000 divided by 180, or 5.56.
Point estimates, called direct expansions, are calculated by multiplying the reported value by the nonresponse-adjusted
weight and summing to a stratum total. A variance estimate is also computed at the stratum level. Totals and variances are
additive across strata to form a state estimate and states are additive to national estimates.
Ratio estimates are also computed for many items. For example, cash rent per acre values are calculated as the ratio of
total rent paid to total acres rented. Ratio indications use the reweighted estimator described above for the numerator and
denominator direct expansions. Both the numerator and denominator must be usable in order for that record to be used in
the ratio estimator.
The June Area Survey uses an area frame ratio estimator that calculates the weighted average rental rate by taking the
ratio of total rent paid to total acres rented. Cash rent items pertain to the entire farm level and are weighted by the
original segment sampling weight and by the proportion of the farm residing inside the segment boundaries. Ratio
indications are calculated including and excluding imputed data.
Outliers: NASS conducts a review of outliers found in cash rents data by reviewing rental rates for all records by practice
(irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, or permanent pastureland). RFO and HQ staff work together to review
outliers and to ensure the most accurate data possible. A determination is made as to whether an adjustment to the cash
rental rate estimate is required. Most outliers trace back to unique situations that do not exist in the target population as
much as the survey weight would indicate.
Estimation: When all samples are accounted for, all responses fully edited, and the analysis material reviewed, each RFO
executes summaries that generate state, district, and county level totals and ratios. The summary results provide multiple
point and ratio estimates and information used to assess the performance of the survey and evaluate the quality of the
survey estimates. RFOs are responsible for performing a detailed review of their survey data, interpreting the Cash Rent
Survey and June Area Survey indications, and submitting state level estimate recommendations to HQ. Staff must
provide justification to the Agricultural Statistics Board (ASB) in cases where recommendations deviate from survey
results. The ASB reviews all state, district, and county level recommendations and establishes official estimates.

Quality Metrics for the Cash Rents Survey
Purpose and Definitions: Under the guidance of the Statistical Policy Office of the OMB, NASS provides data users
with quality metrics for its published data series. The metrics tables in this document describe the performance data for
the survey contributing to the publication. The accuracy of data products may be evaluated through sampling and
nonsampling error. The measurement of error due to sampling in the current period is evaluated by the coefficient of
variation for each estimated item. Nonsampling error is evaluated by response rates.
Sample size is the number of observations selected from the population to represent a characteristic of the population.
Response rate is the proportion of the sample that responded to the survey.
Coefficient of variation provides a measure of the size for the standard error relative to the point estimate and is used to
measure the precision of the results of a survey estimator.

Cash Rents Methodology and Quality Measures (August 2017)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

3

Cash Rents Quality Measures – States and United States: 2017
State

Sample Size

Response Rate

(number)

(percent)

Coefficient of variation
Irrigated cropland

Non-irrigated cropland

Pastureland

(percent)

(percent)

(percent)

Northeast
Connecticut ........
Delaware ............
Maine .................
Maryland ............
Massachusetts ...
New Hampshire .
New Jersey ........
New York ...........
Pennsylvania ......
Rhode Island ......
Vermont .............

555
395
705
1,870
783
320
1,100
4,625
5,894
140
983

73.0
58.8
73.1
68.3
67.9
70.4
67.7
73.9
68.6
54.9
71.6

(NA)
4.9
(NA)
2.9
11.6
(NA)
6.2
11.6
25.1
(NA)
(NA)

20.0
4.5
9.8
3.4
15.8
11.4
5.1
2.3
5.4
(NA)
5.0

(NA)
(NA)
(NA)
6.4
15.2
(NA)
12.9
4.9
8.4
(NA)
9.6

Lake
Michigan ............
Minnesota ..........
Wisconsin ..........

6,068
9,343
7,282

71.5
61.3
67.0

7.3
2.7
7.0

2.0
2.0
2.1

7.7
7.6
5.4

Corn Belt
Illinois .................
Indiana ...............
Iowa ...................
Missouri .............
Ohio ...................

10,197
8,223
12,718
12,276
7,843

69.3
66.4
61.5
70.8
69.5

1.6
4.1
4.5
1.6
14.1

0.7
1.0
0.6
2.1
2.3

13.5
5.0
3.1
2.4
13.8

Northern Plains
Kansas ...............
Nebraska ...........
North Dakota ......
South Dakota .....

11,833
15,203
6,409
7,629

62.4
61.0
60.0
63.2

2.5
0.7
4.4
6.4

1.6
2.3
1.7
2.0

1.6
3.6
1.8
2.5

Appalachian
Kentucky ............
North Carolina ....
Tennessee .........
Virginia ...............
West Virginia ......

8,289
8,262
8,156
6,376
2,026

72.3
70.5
77.1
72.5
82.7

8.3
5.6
4.5
12.9
20.6

2.8
2.0
2.7
3.0
10.4

5.1
2.2
2.0
2.8
6.2

(NA) Not available.

4

Cash Rents Methodology and Quality Measures (August 2017)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Cash Rents Quality Measures – States and United States: 2017 (continued)
State

Sample Size

Response Rate

(number)

(percent)

Coefficient of variation
Irrigated cropland

Non-irrigated cropland

Pastureland

(percent)

(percent)

(percent)

Southeast
Alabama ............
Florida ...............
Georgia ..............
South Carolina ...

5,653
3,542
6,380
2,937

74.5
73.9
69.4
76.4

4.7
12.3
1.5
6.1

2.1
4.5
2.1
2.1

2.6
6.9
4.9
5.4

Delta
Arkansas ...........
Louisiana ...........
Mississippi .........

6,414
4,148
5,427

75.7
75.7
77.2

7.2
4.8
1.5

8.0
4.0
3.2

3.9
8.9
4.0

Southern Plains
Oklahoma ..........
Texas .................

8,461
22,014

81.8
78.4

7.6
6.9

2.7
3.7

2.6
4.6

Mountain
Arizona ..............
Colorado ............
Idaho .................
Montana ............
Nevada ..............
New Mexico .......
Utah ...................
Wyoming ...........

1,200
5,833
4,903
6,145
539
2,771
3,436
2,435

80.1
73.7
71.9
71.7
77.0
75.9
79.8
75.1

10.8
4.2
5.2
4.4
12.2
6.8
4.6
7.0

(NA)
5.6
4.7
1.5
(NA)
13.6
12.3
12.9

16.9
3.5
19.4
4.5
(NA)
5.2
9.7
5.1

Pacific
California ...........
Hawaii ................
Oregon ..............
Washington ........

8,750
668
4,659
4,277

74.3
71.9
71.5
66.9

7.4
24.4
8.8
7.1

11.0
11.6
7.3
8.0

12.3
46.8
12.1
25.3

United States .........

276,095

70.5

(NA)

(NA)

(NA)

(NA) Not available.

Cash Rents Methodology and Quality Measures (August 2017)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

5

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Estimation ............................................... Environmental Economics and
Demographics
Data Collection ....................................... Survey Administration Branch
Questionnaires ........................................ Data Collection Branch
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Methodology Branch
Summary and Estimators ........................ Summary Estimation and Disclosure
Methodology Branch
Dissemination ......................................... Data Dissemination Office
Media Contact and Webmaster ............... Public Affairs Office

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