USDA surveys farmers about next crop

An annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service will begin arriving in farmers' mailboxes later this month.

About 82,000 of the nation's farmers - including 2,956 in Iowa - will be asked to provide information about the types of crops they intend to plant this year, how many acres they intend to plant, and the amounts of corn, wheat, and soybeans they store on their farms.

The agency encourages farmers to respond online or by mail. Those who do not respond by the deadline may be contacted for a telephone or personal interview.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service will compile and analyze the survey data and publish the results in the USDA's annual prospective plantings and quarterly grain stocks reports, which will be released March 31.

'Each year, the agriculture industry eagerly awaits USDA's Prospective Plantings report, which provides USDA's first survey-based estimates of farmers' planting intentions for the year,” said Greg Thessen, NASS upper Midwest regional director. 'The March Agricultural Survey provides the factual data that underpins these projections, making it one of the most important surveys we conduct each year.”

Thessen said information provided by respondents is confidential, as required by federal law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.