05/01/07 Ag Census

2007 Census of Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Growing up in the Midwest I guess I took farmers and farming for granted. Even though I was a town kid and only worked on farms during the summer, most everyone I knew or went to school with was tied to agriculture. But there are of course large areas where farming is not a priority. So how do we maintain the rights of farmers? It starts by counting them. HOUSE: The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of America's farmers and it's conducted every 5 years. It provides valuable information about American agriculture. It's the most complete agricultural data source available and in particular it's used by local communities to plan their future. That's Carol House with the National Ag Statistics Service. The census has been going on since the 1800's but House says that NASS has only recently gotten involved. HOUSE: NASS began doing it with the 1997 census when the census was transferred from the Bureau of Census and the Department of Commerce to the Department of Agriculture. According to House, the Census of Farming information is used to help farms and farming communities. HOUSE: Each producer really by filling out the Census of Agriculture has the power to influence some of the key decisions that are going to shape the direction of agriculture for years to come. This includes things like business decisions where they are making transportation and marketing locations, farm services, production practices and new technology will all be developed using some of the information on the Census of Agriculture and obviously policy decisions. The community planning will be based off of the census, storing company locations, operation loan planning and funding. The personal information is kept confidential but House says it's very important that you do respond. HOUSE: If someone doesn't respond to the questionnaire that we send to them we will send them a reminder post card and then we'll send them another questionnaire and eventually we'll be calling them on the phone asking them to complete the census. The 2007 Census of Agriculture  it's your voice, it's your future and it's your responsibility. The census will take place in the first quarter of 2008. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.