03/29/07 Planting intentions

The National Ag Statistic Service releases its Prospective Planting Report early Friday morning. It's probably one of the most anticipated in recent years, especially because of the rise in corn prices and its impact on other commodities. But how do farmers know that the information is accurate? NASS crop chief Jeff Geuder says they have a data base in each county of farmers and what they grow so that they can target those crops. GEUDER "Its makes it much more efficient to sample them that way than to take a random sample of all the farmers in the state. We know our list is not complete, out data base is not complete. So we supplement that with what we call an area sample; go out there and find out who is operating farms in those segments and what they're growing." Farmers responded to mailed questionnaires, Internet sites, phone interviews or personal visits from an NASS representative. 87 thousand of them reported their intentions. GEUDER "This report is coming out four to five weeks before many of the states even begin their corn and soybean planting. Obviously farmers can and will change their minds so we'll recapture this information again in June." June 11th is the day that the follow up Crop Production Report will be issued. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott