A Quick Regional Snapshot of Ag Census Information

The USDA has released some preliminary statistics of the 2012 Ag Census.Chris Mertz Regional Director for USDA’s NASS, shares some of the limited numbers that were published in the preliminary 2012 Ag Census. He shares that across the Northwest we have more diversity reflected in our farmers and ranchers

Mertz: “For the entire northwest region, we are showing an increase in the number of Hispanic operations and the number of Asian operators as well.??In 2012, the value of agricultural products sold totaled $394.6 billion, up 33 percent ($97.4 billion) from 2007. Washington’s value of agricultural products sold increased 34 percent, Idaho increased 37 percent, and Oregon increased 11 percent.

While we will have to wait until May to discover the rest of the census statistics, Mertz says it is very important that participating farmers and ranchers are thanked for their time and sharing of their information.

Mertz: “We need to really thank the farm operators that provided this information.There is a lot of information that comes out of this. A lot of people studied this that use the information on behalf to the farmers or help promote agriculture or help defend agriculture or get new farmers started. This information is very valuable to those that want to assist producers in becoming successful. So we want to thank the farmers for taking their time in providing share some very personal information for all of us people who enjoy data to review.”