Q&A

Pam Coleman is the survey administrator for the ARMS 3 survey, the nation’s primary source of economic information on farm production practices, resource use and financial well-being. She oversees the design, implementation and analysis of this critical survey. In a recent interview, Pam highlights the contributions of NASDA enumerators, shares insights into her work and explains how the data they collect supports farmers, policymakers and the public.

Tell us about your role as the ARMS 3 Survey Administrator and what keeps you motivated in this work?

As the Survey Administrator for ARMS 3, I’m responsible for overseeing the survey from the time the sample is drawn in the very beginning of the survey cycle, up until the end of data collection. I prepare a due-date calendar for the Regional Field Offices, NASS Headquarters, and the NASDA enumerators to follow and adhere to during the survey period to assist in staying on track during data collection. I also prepare manuals such as an Interviewer’s Manual and the Survey Administration Manual. The manuals are written to help NASDA, RFOs, and anyone interested in learning more ARMS while also learning how to probe respondents, collect, and edit the ARMS 3 data.

In my role, communication is key and that is what keeps me motivated. I enjoy speaking with the RFOs daily and answering questions about ARMS. Not only do I internally connect daily with various divisions within NASS, I also have the pleasure to talk and discuss situations with the Economic Research Service (ERS), who partner with NASS for this wonderful survey called ARMS!

As a Survey Administrator, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone when you have such a large audience of team players to ensure NASS’s data collection programs are functioning properly and that everyone be held accountable of their task by using their expertise in making sure ARMS stays on schedule until the data is 100% clean and data collection has come to an end.

Why is ARMS 3 important for understanding the economic well-being of U.S. farms, and how is it different from other phases of the survey?

ARMS 3 is important because it collects data on the financial conditions of both the farm business and the farm household such as cash sales, operating expenses, household spending, and household income. ARMS 3 also collects data on the farm business assets and debt.  All this information helps the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) ascertain the economic well-being of farms. 

ARMS 3 is different from other phases of ARMS in that Phase 2 collects data associated with agricultural production practices, resource use, and variable cost of production for targeted commodities on a randomly selected field. Phase 1 determines the status of the business and collects general farm data such as crops grown, livestock inventory, and value of sales. Phase 1 data is used to qualify farms for the other phases of ARMS.

What changes or updates have been made to this year’s ARMS 3 survey? How do you hope these improvements will enhance the process or results?

Changes implemented in 2024 ARMS 3 are mainly related to Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL). This year, the survey had several changes, however, I will highlight a few. For the current survey cycle, we are not tracking things like historic conservation payments, unsold commodity inventory, and precision agriculture as in last year’s Cost Return and Report (CRR).  

In Section A of the questionnaire, there are quite a few questions related to TOTAL. Many of these same questions were in the 2014 ARMS 3/TOTAL questionnaire, and many of these same questions are in the Landlord-only TOTAL questionnaire. Other changes in questions are related to organic land and method of land transfer. 

Changes were also made to the Direct Sales questions and the questions/table on Conservation Practices. Both the Direct Sales questions and Conservation practices questions/table were streamlined compared to prior years.

Lastly, a change was made regarding the personal characteristics. This year, the race and ethnicity question, includes “Middle Eastern or North African” as an option.

With the changes made this year to the questionnaire, the hope is that respondents recognize the changes and be excited to respond which in turn will help increase response rates. Increased response rates with good data will help in publishing data that is used by farmers and policy makers.

How do you ensure NASDA enumerators are well-prepared to collect accurate and reliable data from farmers?

Every year, as the Survey Administrator of ARMS 3, I’m responsible for conducting an ARMS 3 workshop to train Regional Fields Offices (RFOs) on changes to the survey and how to connect with the respondents. What’s learned in the classroom is then transferred to the enumerators by the workshop attendee(s) via classroom or virtual trainings conducted either by the survey lead from every region or by members from the ARMS 3 national team that include ERS researchers who select questions listed in the survey and NASS statisticians who analyze the data for accuracy once received.

In addition, for the past couple years, a collaboration team meets consistently for a few weeks before data collection begins to generate videos and presentations that assists the NASDA enumerators in learning more about the survey which helps make the enumerators feel more comfortable when connecting with the respondent while collecting relevant data. All the videos and the presentations are located on the NASDA website as a reference.  

The Interviewer’s Manual that I mentioned earlier also provides a detailed explanation of each question asked on the survey. This manual s also placed on the NASDA website which can be used as a valuable resource.

What challenges do you face in managing ARMS 3, and how do you address them?

With every survey, you’re going to have challenges. However, I always address them as soon as they arrive. With ARMS being such a large survey to fill out, sometimes respondents don’t complete its entirely. When an incomplete questionnaire is received, the data cannot be used. However, when notified, NASDA enumerators have never failed to re-contact the respondent to capture the data needed to make the questionnaire a complete so that the data can be used for publication.  

The level of difficulty in managing this technical survey is a challenge all of its own. To help make understanding more feasible for the RFOs, as the Survey Administrator, I offer weekly sessions of Office Hours during the entire data collection period. During Office Hours, RFOs can ask questions for a better understanding of ARMS, and they also have the opportunity to converse with other RFOs to get a different point of view on how they handled a particular situation.

On Microsoft TEAMS, a group chat is available with all the leads from each Region where anyone can ask a question at any time and request assistance by all leads, Sometimes, this strikes up a whole conversation with all the leads as quick responses and scenarios are provided.

How does the data collected in ARMS 3 benefit farmers, policymakers, and the public? Can you share an example?

The ARMS data acts as a financial report for the farm sector such as farm businesses and farm households. The Economic Research Service (ERS) provides custom reports known as staff analyses reports which are intended for policymakers for a quick turnaround of a specific topic that affect farmers every day. Better information makes for better decisions! Accurate and timely information is crucial for effective policy making. Congress, USDA, and others involved in policy making uses ARMS based data. Lenders, investors and farm advisors also uses this data. Everyone has easy access to the data via the web.

One example that comes to mind is that the results of the ARMS survey give farmers and ranchers insight of the conditions in the agricultural communities.

What would you like NASDA enumerators to know about the importance of their work on ARMS 3? Do you have any advice for them?

The NASDA enumerators play a vital role in collecting useful and accurate data from farmers and their constituents. I’ve learned throughout the years that most enumerators have a personal relationship with their respondents. This makes it easier during the interview process to go through the ARMS questionnaires and capture pertinent statistical data.

Without the enumerators doing such an awesome job in collecting data, we would not be able to publish data such as the annual Farm Production Expenditures report that highlights the total value of expenditures and breaks down the sub-components of these cost.  This reports also contains estimates of farm production expenditures by U.S. farm production regions and economic class for major expenses such as farm service, rent, farm supplies and repairs.

I would personally like to say “Thank You” to the NASDA enumerators for always rendering outstanding services!