USDA-NASS TO MEASURE THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE AG INDUSTRY
News Date February 02, 2010
Starting in February, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct its Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). This survey will provide farmers with an opportunity to provide accurate, real-world data that will help shape the policies, programs and issues that affect them.
ARMS asks a small, but representative, sample of farmers about their operation in order to understand the current financial state of agriculture. Participation in ARMS is important because government and agricultural leaders use the information needed to make sound decisions that impact the future of farmers, their families, their businesses and their communities.
The survey will be conducted between February and March. In an effort to obtain the most accurate data, NASS will reach out to nearly 35,000 producers nationwide. Producers will be asked to provide data on their operating expenditures, capital improvements, labor use, assets and debt, production costs and household characteristics. Farm organizations, commodity groups, agribusiness, Congress, and the USDA use information from ARMS to evaluate the financial performance of farm/ranch businesses and to make policy decisions affecting agriculture. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses ARMS data to calculate the farm sector portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the nation.
As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. NASS safeguards the confidentiality of all responses, ensuring no individual respondent or operation can be identified. The economic data gathered in ARMS will be published in the annual Farm Production Expenditures report on August 3, 2010. All NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)