NEW - National Agroforestry Survey - SSA - 2022 - 2021July22

1 Supporting Statement – Part A

NATIONAL AGROFORESTRY SURVEY

OMB No. 0535-NEW

The National Agricultural Statistics Service is seeking approval for the creation of a new information collection for the 2022 National Agroforestry Survey. This survey is funded by an Interagency Agreement with funding provided by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service – National Agroforestry Center.

The survey will be conducted in all 50 states.

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.

The mission of the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agroforestry Center (USDA-NAC) is “to advance the health, diversity, and productivity of working lands, waters, and communities through agroforestry.” Agroforestry is the intentional integration of agriculture and forestry. America’s working lands — farms, ranches, and forests — are facing increasing pressures to maximize production for a growing population while minimizing the impacts to wildlife, soils, water, and other ecosystem services on which we depend. The expansion of crops and other agricultural activities is generating a greater need for these production and protective services. Agroforestry has tremendous potential to restore and enhance ecosystem services critical to meeting these needs.

Very limited information is available on how prevalent agroforestry is in the United States and more specifically, which practices are utilized. This survey will cover the following agroforestry practices:

• Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to provide economic, environmental and community benefits. The primary purpose of most windbreaks is to slow the wind which creates a more beneficial condition for soils, crops, livestock, wildlife, and people.

• Silvopasture is the deliberate integration of trees and grazing livestock operations on the same land. These systems are intensively managed for both forest products and forage, providing both short- and long-term income sources.

• A riparian forest buffer is an area adjacent to a stream, lake, or wetland that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and/or other perennial plants and is managed differently from the surrounding landscape, primarily to provide conservation benefits.

• Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value crops under the protection of a managed tree canopy. In some parts of the world, this is called multi-story cropping and when used on a small scale in the tropics it is sometimes called home gardening.

• Alley cropping is defined as the planting of rows of trees and/or shrubs to create alleys within which agricultural or horticultural crops are produced. The trees may include valuable hardwood veneer or lumber species; fruit, nut or other specialty crop trees/shrubs; or desirable softwood species for wood fiber production.

There have been numerous studies that cover one of the above practices in selected States. Most of these studies pertain to the willingness/unwillingness to adopt agroforestry, with respondents being landowners who are yet to adopt any of the five agroforestry practices. As a result, literature about farmers and ranchers actually using agroforestry is limited. This national-level study will address this need by covering all five agroforestry practices, with the population of interest being farmers and ranchers who are using agroforestry.

General authority for these data collection activities is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204 which specifies that "The Secretary of Agriculture shall procure and preserve all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain ... by the collection of statistics ... and shall distribute them among agriculturists."

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The purpose of the proposed survey is to develop a national and State-level inventory of the above agroforestry practices in the United States. Information collected for each of the above agroforestry practices will be used to provide an indication of:

• Establishment methods

• Types of management

• Benefits of using the practice

• Challenges of using the practice, and

• Time of establishment and future plans for using the practice

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

NASS’s Survey Design System (SDS) was built to enable the creation of comparable paper and web survey instruments for almost any survey. For the 2022 National Agroforestry Survey NASS will develop a Computer Assisted Self Interview (CASI), along with a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) for data collection from non-respondents to the mail or internet questionnaire.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

There have been numerous studies that cover one of the above practices in selected States. However, a majority of these studies pertain to the willingness/unwillingness to adopt agroforestry, with respondents being landowners who are yet to adopt any of the five agroforestry practices. As a result, literature about farmers and ranchers who are actually using agroforestry is limited. This national-level study will address this need by covering all five practices, with the population of interest being farmers and ranchers using agroforestry.

The United States Department of Agriculture conducts the National Woodland Owner’s Survey (OMB Control Number 0596-0078). This survey is focused on owners and managers of forestland and asks them why they own/manage their land, how they use it, and what they intend to do with it. This proposed survey has a different population of interest and purpose.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities (Item 5 of OMB Form 83-I), describe any methods used to minimize burden.

This information collection will not have a significant economic impact on small entities. Of the total estimated sample size of 11,800, approximately 11,410 would be classified as small operators, or approximately 96.7%.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The purpose of the proposed survey is to develop a national and state-level inventory of the above agroforestry practices in the United States. Information collected for each of the above agroforestry practices will be used to provide an indication of

• Establishment methods

• Types of management

• Benefits of using the practice

• Challenges of using the practice, and

• Time of establishment and future plans for using the practice.

The results of this survey can be used to obtain information that can be used by the USDA National Agroforestry Center in addressing the challenges to utilizing and highlighting the benefits of using the above agroforestry practices. This information can be provided to the agricultural community to promote crop diversification, conservation, and conservation programs.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection.

8. Provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8 (d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments.

The Federal Register Notice soliciting comments was published on June 2, 2021 on pages 29551 – 29552. NASS received no comments.

Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and record-keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

NASS has been working with the following people in the development of this survey.

Matthew M Smith, PhD

Research Ecologist and Team Lead

U.S. Forest Service

USDA National Agroforestry Center

1945 N. 38th Street

Lincoln, NE 68583

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 402-437-5178 x4021

Dr. Joseph Orefice

Lecturer and Director of Forest & Agricultural Operations

Yale School of the Environment

Room 21 - Marsh Hall

360 Prospect Street

New Haven, CT 06511

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 518-354-3170

Dr. Uma Karki

Professor & State Extension Livestock Specialist

Tuskegee University

204 Mary Starke Harper Hall

Tuskegee, AL 36088

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 334-727-8336

Andrew Perleberg

Regional Extension Specialist and Forestry Team Leader

Washington State University

400 Washington Street

Wenatchee, WA 98801

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 509-667-6540

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents.

There are no payments or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

Questionnaires include a statement that individual reports are confidential. U.S. Code Title 18, Section 1905; U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2276; and Title III of Pub. L. No. 115-435 (CIPSEA) provide for confidentiality of reported information. All employees of NASS and all enumerators hired and supervised under a cooperative agreement with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) must read the regulations and sign a statement of compliance.

Additionally, NASS employees and NASS contractors comply with the OMB implementation guidance document, “Implementation Guidance for Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, Title III of Pub. L. No. 115-435, codified in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35” CIPSEA supports NASS’s pledge of confidentiality to all respondents and facilitates the agency’s efforts to reduce burden by supporting statistical activities of collaborative agencies through designation of NASS agents, subject to the limitations and penalties described in CIPSEA.

The following confidentiality pledge statement will appear on all NASS questionnaires.

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, Title III of Pub. L. No. 115-435, codified in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I. Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

Burden hour calculations are shown below. The minutes-per-response figures come from cognitive interviews. Cost to the public of completing the questionnaire is assumed to be comparable to the hourly rate of those requesting the data. Reporting time of 9,547 hours is multiplied by $36.97 per hour for a total cost to the public of $352,952.59.

NASS uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics (most recently published on March 31, 2021 for the previous May) to estimate an hourly wage for the burden cost. The May 2020 mean wage for bookkeepers was $21.20. The mean wage for farm managers was $36.93. The mean wage for farm supervisors was $25.25. The mean wage of the three is $27.79. To calculate the fully loaded wage rate (includes allowances for Social Security, insurance, etc.) NASS will add 33% for a total of $36.97 per hour.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection of information.

There are no capital/start-up or ongoing operation/maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government; provide a description of the method used to estimate cost which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses, and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

The total cost to the Federal Government for the 2022 National Agroforestry Survey is approximately $417,800, most of which is salaries. This survey is funded by an Interagency Agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service – National Agroforestry Center.

15. Explain the reasons for, any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-I (reasons for changes in burden).

This is a new data collection package, so all changes are due to program changes.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

Data analysis, summarization, and publication will be done by United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service – National Agroforestry Center.

Multiple publications are planned from this survey. It is hoped that data can be published at the state-level. Any published data must meet NASS disclosure standards. Some practices not heavily used in some States may be combined with other like-States.

Peer reviewed publications are planned as follows:

1. Agroforestry adoption in the U.S: Landowner traits, financial mechanisms, and lessons learned.

2. Agroforestry as a land-use strategy to generate revenue, build ecosystem resiliency and combat climate change. This will be the first article to use actual acreages of agroforestry across the U.S. to estimate carbon storage capability.

In addition to the peer reviewed publications mentioned above, USDA’s Forest Service also intends on a publication for each of the five agroforestry practices:

• Windbreaks in the United States,

• Silvopasture in the United States,

• Forest Farming Systems in the United States,

• Alley Cropping Systems in the United States, and

• Riparian Forest Buffers across the United States.

USDA’s Forest Service also intends on publications by region so agroforestry practitioners can find information relevant to their farm system easily. Articles will cover survey results, species composition (tree and crop), along with practitioner-provided information on what has and has not worked for them.

USDA’s National Agroforestry Center estimates the first publication to be publicly available around March 2023.

The survey timeline is:

Survey design November 2020 - February 2021

Sample selection December 2021

Questionnaire design March 2021 - July 2021

Mail Announcement Postcard February 2022

Mail Announcement Letter February-March 2022

Mail Survey March 2022

Reminder Mailing Late March 2022

Phone Follow-up April 2022

End of Data Collection April 2022

Data Analysis July 2022 – July 2025

First Publication March, 2023

Further Publications March, 2023 – September, 2025

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

There is no request for approval of non-display of the expiration date.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions” of OMB Form 83-I.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

July 2021

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