ARMS Brochure

USDA COUNTS FARMS
BECAUSE AMERICA COUNTS
ON FARMERS
Last year, more than 14,000 of your fellow
farmers and ranchers completed this survey.
Your participation in ARMS ensures that policy
makers and others, including farmers and
ranchers like you, base decisions on facts that
come straight from the source.
ARMS is conducted in three phases that
continue throughout the year. Growers are
surveyed during the following data collection
periods:
ARMS 1: Survey participant screening
May - July

ARMS 2: Chemical use and production practices
October – December

ARMS 3: Costs and returns
January - April

For more information about ARMS, visit:
nass.usda.gov/go/arms
For analysis of ARMS data, visit:
ers.usda.gov/arms
In accordance with the Confidential Information Protection
and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, Title III of Pub. L. No. 115435, codified in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35 and other applicable Federal
laws, your responses will be kept confidential and will not be
disclosed in identifiable form to anyone other than employees
or agents.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
Updated November 2021

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

Agricultural Resource
Management Survey
(ARMS)
nass.usda.gov/go/arms

Data collected by the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) will inform farmers,
ag producers, ranchers, USDA, and the public of the financial condition, production practices, and
resource use of America’s farms and ranches.
Farmers and ranchers rely on good information to make decisions every day. Good data are critical for
federal farm policy decision making. That is why the information provided by farmers and ranchers in
ARMS is so important.

ARMS helps us better understand these aspects
of American agriculture:
■ Farm finances: data from this survey help inform
policymakers on the financial risks and gains of
running a farm or ranch.

■ Fertilizer and pesticide use: information on
pesticides most commonly used by crop as well as
pest management or conservation practices.

■ Farm household characteristics: information
such as off-farm employment, health insurance
coverage, and who manages the finances and
operations on a farm.

■ Government payments and federal crop
insurance: tracking the use of commodity,
emergency, or conservation assistance programs.

■ Types of farms: understanding the differences
between small family farms or large commercial
operations.