Vegetable Chemical Use Backgrounder

NASS Programs

2022 Vegetable Chemical Use Survey
About the Survey
The Vegetable Chemical Use
Survey provides detailed data
about fertilizer and pesticide
usage and pest management
practices from producers of
select vegetable crops in selected
states.
NASS contacts growers early in
the survey period and then again
once the harvest is complete
or the last chemical application
has been made. Because of
variation in geographic and crop
harvesting periods, the survey
will be conducted from October
2022 through January 2023.
NASS will release the data in 2023
via NASS’s Quick Stats database:
https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/

Response Confidentiality
All information NASS collects
in this survey will be kept
strictly confidential, as
required by federal law. The
results of this survey will
be available in aggregate
form only, ensuring that
no individual operation or
producer can be identified.

What Topics Does this
Survey Address?
NASS interviewers will ask about
production practices related to
the target vegetable crops in the
participating states. Questions
include:
• Number of vegetable acres
operated
• Fertilizers and pesticides
used (including name of the
chemical product, method,
amount, rate, and frequency
of application)
• Pest management practices
Responses will help illustrate
the industry’s fertilizer and
pesticide practices and assure
the quality of U.S. food to
consumers here and around
the world. Interviewers will ask
several detailed questions about
the types of pesticides used on
crops and in pest management
practices. To make the interview
go quickly, producers are
encouraged to have their spray
records available.

Who Uses the Information?
All sectors of the agriculture
industry – producers, buyers,
suppliers, policymakers and
others – rely on vegetable
chemical use data to make sound
business decisions. For example:
• Agencies such as the
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and USDA’s
Agricultural Marketing
Service use the data to
document the quality and
safety of U.S. food products,
providing assurances to both
domestic and international
customers.
• Growers use the data to
compare their own practices
with aggregated data from
growers in their state and the
nation.

August 2022

www.nass.usda.gov