Farmer's Survey

 Allright…time to ask you ag producers a few questions. How much did you make last year? What were your input costs? Any concerns about the economic climate in agriculture? Can you remember what conditions led you to reduce plantings of sugar beets?

 Farmers will very soon be able to set the record straight on these issues when the annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey polling people show up at 37,000 farmers’ doors. HUH???

 “What it is every year NASS conducts a survey that measures the income and expenses for the producers in the country and it gives snapshot of what th real economic condition is out there and I know there’s a lot of interest in that right now with high input costs and now, lately, decreased commodity prices. It gives producers a chance to find out what’s actually happening out on the farm. This information is used extensively by policy makers back in Washington, D.C. It’s probably one of the most important surveys we actually do. 

 That’s the USDA’s Bill Meyers working with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. And farmers, it’s in your interest to provide good information.

 (Meyers) “The new farm bill,  people are lobbying for how much money that will get in each part of it. I’m sure they’ll be referring to these data to assess where that money will be pro-rated across the farm bill.”