South Dakota Ag Connection - Late-Season County Agricultural Production Survey

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Late-Season County Agricultural Production Survey
South Dakota Ag Connection - 11/16/2018

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey producers in 42 states, including South Dakota, for its County Agricultural Production Survey (CAPS).

"County-level yields have a direct impact on farmers around the State. USDA's Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering producer programs such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) included in the 2014 Farm Bill, and in determining disaster assistance program calculations," said Erik Gerlach, South Dakota state statistician. "NASS cannot publish a county yield unless it receives enough reports from producers in that county to make a statistically defensible estimate. So, it is very important that producers respond to this survey. In 2017, NASS was unable to publish several large producing counties due to an insufficient number of responses."

"As required by Federal law, all responses are completely confidential," Gerlach continued. "We safeguard the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. Individual responses are also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act."

Many producers respond by mail or on-line via NASS's secure reporting website. NASS will also contact producers by phone or in person, particularly in low-response counties, to ensure producers their opportunity to represent South Dakota agriculture. County-level data for corn, sorghum, soybeans, and sunflowers will be available in February 2019, and hay in April 2019.

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