The Grocery Store and the Gas Pump: Data that Hit Home

USDA-NASS DATADania Ferguson, Head,

Environmental and Economic Surveys Section

APDU Annual ConferenceFederal Data in a Time of Change

September 2008

NASS Reports

• Over 500 National reports published annually

• Over 9,000 State-level reports annually

• Census reports for each State, Nation, and outlying areas

What Does NASS Do?

• Administer USDA’s Statistical Estimating Program

• Conduct the 5-year Census of Agriculture

• Coordinate Federal/State agricultural statistical needs

• Provide statistical consulting for Federal/State governments, universities, and other countries

• Collect and summarize agricultural data under reimbursable agreements

• Conduct statistical research

What Doesn’t NASS Do?

• Set policy

• Regulate activities

• Permit influence

• Disclose individual reports

• Favor any group above others

• Estimate production for illegal crops

• Economic analysis

• Award grants

• Proprietary surveys (data summaries always made public)

NASS Programs• Commodity Statistics

• Economic Statistics

• Demographic Statistics

• Environmental Statistics

National Agricultural Statistics Service

• Production data on more than 120 crops and 40 livestock commodities

• Price, sale, expense data for $200 billion in agricultural products

• Environmental data related to 938 million acres

• Demographics on 3 million farm operators and 6.6 million household members

Annual statistics program and Census of Agriculture

Any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and

sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year.

Farm Definition

Data Sources For Official Statistics

• Sample Surveys• Census of

Agriculture• Administrative Data

• Imports/Exports•Slaughter•Crush •Millings• Inspections

Data Collection

• Producers

• Objective measurement

• Remote Sensing

Production of Agricultural Commodities Acres Intended

Planted - Intended for Harvest

Harvested

Yield Forecasted Yield, Final Yield

Production Forecasted ProductionFinal Production

Livestock, Inventory, Breeding Classes,Dairy & Poultry Market Classes, Births

Commodity Statistics Program

Supplies of Agricultural Commodities

• Grain, potatoes, onions, peanuts in storage

• Livestock and poultry slaughter

• Dairy products

• Egg production and products

• Meat/frozen food/dairy products in cold storage

• Cotton ginning

Commodity Statistics Program

• Irrigation - area, by crop

• Production expenditures - feeder livestock, feed, seed, fertilizers, chemicals, machinery, labor, etc.

• Number farm workers

Economic Statistics Program

• Prices received - monthly and seasonal average

• Prices paid• Prices received and paid indexes• Land values, cash rents• Grazing fees• Wage rates

Economic Statistics Program

Environmental Statistics Program

• Fertilizer Use • Chemical Use

– Field Crops– Fruit & Vegetables– Post Harvest– Livestock

• Production/Processing Practices

• Pest Management Practices

Demographic Statistics Program

Number of Farms By Kind of Farm, Sales, Income, Type of Operational Structure

Size of Farms Number of Acres, Livestock, by Size

Farm Operators Age, Race, Ethnicity, Sex

Farm Income By Size and Type

Production Practices Cropping Practices, Pest Management Animal Husbandry

Land Use Cropland, Pastureland, Woodland, etc.

Periodic Programs

• Agriculture Census – every 5 years• Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey • Census of Horticultural Specialties• Aquaculture Census• Agricultural Economics and Land

Ownership Survey

High Profile Uses of NASS Data

• U.S. principle economic indicators• Farm Bill counter-cyclical payments• Disaster payment determination• Group Risk policy payments and

premiums• Livestock compensation program• EPA risk analysis in re-registration of

chemicals• Levels the playing field for

commodity markets

Hurricane Impact Assessment

Importance - Economics

Fewer farmers - each farmer very important

less than 2% of farmers produce 50% of sales

less than 7% of farmers produce 75% of sales

How Many People Does a Farmer Feed?

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1940 1960 1980 Today

Sources: American Farm Bureau Federation, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Importance - Economics

Data used in the Economic Indicators

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Producer Price Index (PPI)

Prices Received by Agricultural Producers

January 2008 Producer Prices

Wheat $7.93 per bushel

Soybeans $9.96 per bushel

Corn $3.97 per bushel

Milk $20.50 per cwt

Beef Cattle $87.30 per cwt

Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)integrates Chemical Use and

Economic data with Household data

ARMS data address concerns common to all agriculture

stakeholdersGoal: Farm profitability and environmental

stewardship

• Safety net – financial safety net and tools to manage risk

• Stewardship – rewards for protecting environment

• New markets – opportunities to encourage innovation and improved nutrition, food security, and energy independence.

• Research - technical assistance & strategic land use

How is ARMS used?ARMS is used to perform the following functions:

• Gather information about the relationships among agricultural production, resources, and the environment;

• Determine the costs to produce various crop and livestock commodities, and the relative importance of various production expense items;

• Help determine farmers’/ranchers’ net farm income and provide data on the financial situation of farm/ranch businesses, including debt levels;

• Help determine the characteristics and financial situations of farm/ranch operators and their households, including information on management strategies and off-farm income

Chemical Use Surveys

ARMS - Phase II collects field crop chemical use data

Nursery & Floriculture Chemical Use (Triennial)

Livestock Chemical Use

Suspended due to budget: - Fruit Chemical Use and Vegetable Chemical Use

- Postharvest Chemical Use

Chemical Usage Data Goals

Crop-specific Fertilizer and Pesticide Usage Statistics

Area Applied Number of Applications

Rate/Application Rate/Crop Year

Total Amount Applied

NASS Website – www.usda.gov

NASS Web Site – Quick Stats

• U.S., State, county database

• Historic data for most commodities

- Planted, harvested, yield, production, price, and value

• Data format options

http://www.nass.usda.gov/

www.nass.usda.gov

Dania Ferguson dferguson@nass.usda.gov

NASS - Fact Finders for Agriculture