Reply Letter to Dr. Dennis Fixler BEA

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

February 27, 2020

Dr. Dennis J. Fixler

Chief Economist

U.S. Department of Commerce

Bureau of Economic Analysis

1441 L Street NW

Washington, DC 20230

Dear Dr. Fixler and Ms. Reed,

Thank you for the letter of support and sharing the specific uses your organization makes of these data. NASS continues to look for ways to streamline our data collection process to help reduce any unnecessary burden on the respondents.

On December 17, 2019, OMB approved a non-substantive change requested by NASS to the Ag Land Value Survey and the June Area Survey regarding land values. The change request is attached to this letter.

On October 10, 2019, OMB approved a substantive change requested by NASS to add additional predator loss questions to the January 2020 Sheep and Goat Survey. These changes were added due to a cooperative agreement between NASS and APHIS.

All other changes to this group of surveys are just minor adjustments to the sample sizes due to changes in the target population since the previous approval in June 2017.

We will keep you informed of any future modifications.

Again, many thanks!

Sincerely,

Joseph L. Parsons

Chairperson, Agricultural Statistics Board

U.S. Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

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