Sample News Release

NEWS RELEASE

United States Department of Agriculture

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

[FIELD OFFICE NAME] FIELD OFFICE

[ADDRESS]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: [Firstname] [Lastname]
	(XXX) XXX-XXXX

USDA TO SURVEY FARMERS’ PLANTING INTENTIONS FOR 2020

[CITY, STATE] – [Month ##], [Year] -- As the 2020 crop production season begins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact producers nationwide to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season.

“Each year, the agriculture industry eagerly awaits USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, which provides the first survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers’ planting intentions for the year,” said NASS’ [STATE] State Statistician [FIRSTNAME LASTNAME]. “The March Agricultural Survey provides the factual data that underpins these projections, making it one of the most important surveys we conduct each year.”

NASS will mail the survey questionnaire in February, asking producers to provide information about the types of crops they intend to plant in 2020, how many acres they intend to plant, and the amounts of grain and oilseed they store on their farms. NASS encourages producers to respond online or by mail. Those producers who do not respond by the deadline may be contacted for a telephone or personal interview.

NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

Survey results will be published in the Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grain Stocks report to be released on March 31, 2020. These and all NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information call the NASS [STATE] Field Office at [TOLL-FREE NUMBER].

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NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. We invite you to provide occasional feedback on our products and services. Sign up at http://bit.ly/NASS_Subscriptions and look for the “NASS Data User Community.”

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