North Dakota will soon be taking part in the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Census.
Patrick Boyle is the Deputy Director of the North Dakota Field Office of the NASS. He says the ag census is conducted every five years.
"It's similar to the population census that everybody's familiar with that happens every ten years, and focuses on all aspects of production agriculture across the country. It happens in all fifty states and US territories," says Boyle.
Boyle says the ag census tracks all use of land and ownership, production practices, owner characteristics and other topics surrounding agriculture.
"We collect the typical acreage and production data that producers here in North Dakota might be familiar with - how many acres of wheat did you grow, how many acres of corn, how many cattle do you have. We interview and conduct surveys farms you might not necessarily think about when you think about North Dakota agriculture. We try to focus in on smaller farms that grow specialty crops, fruits, vegetables, folks that grow produce for farmers markets, specialty livestock in the state. It's much larger than the typical crop production surveys that we do."
Boyle says the information is useful to all agencies and firms who serve farmers and rural communities, and helps federal, state and local governments have accurate statistics to use for shaping ag policy. In the 2007 ag census, farmers reported a total of 31-thousand 970 farms in North Dakota spanning across 39.7 million acres, an increase from the 2002 census. However Boyle says the average size of farms slightly decreased. He says NASS will mail out the census forms later this month and that they are due to be mailed back by February 4, 2013. They can also be filled out online at www.agcensus.usda.gov.