Initial Mailing 



The report forms were mailed in late December 1982 to the 

 approximately 3,653,000 Individuals, businesses, and organiza- 

 tions on the mail list. The information sheet containing in- 

 structions for completing the form and a brochure explain- 

 ing the uses of the census data were included with each report 

 form. Additional special instructions were included with re- 

 port forms sent to grazing associations; feedlot operations; in- 

 stitutional organizations; and producers of poultry under con- 

 tract, bees and honey, fish, laboratory animals, worms, and 

 nursery and greenhouse products. 



In an effort to provide additional help to farmers in com- 

 pleting their reports, copies of an Agriculture Census Guide 

 booklet were sent to county agricultural agencies, institutions, 

 or businesses to whom farmers might turn for help. Included 

 were vocational agriculture instructors, and USDA county 

 offices— Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, 

 Farmers Home Administration, Soil Conservation Service, and 

 Cooperative Extension Service. This guide contained descrip- 

 tions and definitions for various items in more detail than the 

 instructions included with each report form. Representatives 

 of the above agencies graciously consented to assist farmers 

 in completing their report forms if requested. 



Followup Procedures 



The data collection effort included a reminder card and five 

 followup letters, two of which were accompanied by a report 

 form. Followup reminders were sent to nonrespondents on a 

 flow basis at 3- to 4-week intervals starting in late February and 

 continuing until late June 1983. In early April 1983, an addi- 

 tional followup letter was sent to nonrespondents in low 

 response counties in 14 States. 



Telephone calls were made to nonrespondents who were 

 expected to have large operations (those with expected sales 

 of $100,000 or more) or who were located in low response 

 counties. A nonresponse adjustment procedure was used to 

 represent the final nonrespondent farms in the census results. 

 A description of this procedure is included in the Statistical 

 Adjustments section. 



DATA PROCESSING 



Selected report forms were reviewed prior to keying the data 

 onto magnetic tape. These included reports with attached corre- 

 spondence, and reports with remarks or no positive data on the 

 front page. All new successors reported by former operators 

 were researched to see if they had already been included in the 

 census mailing. Report forms were mailed to successor addresses 

 not located on the mail file. This processing improved the 

 coverage of the census. 



The data for each report form were subjected to a detailed 

 item-byitem computer edit. The edit performed comprehensive 

 checks for consistency and reasonableness, corrected erroneous 

 or inconsistent data, supplied missing data based on similar 

 farms within the same county, and assigned farm classification 

 codes necessary for tabulating the data. Significant computer- 

 generated changes to the data were reviewed and verified. 



In the computer edit, farms with sales, acreage, or com- 

 modities exceeding specified levels were tested for historical 

 comparability. Key items, such as acreage and sales, were com- 

 pared for significant changes between 1978 and 1982. Sizeable 



historical differences were resolved or verified, by telephone if 

 necessary. 



Respondents who reported sales or acreage above specified 

 levels on nonsample forms were sent correspondence requesting 

 the additional sample data. Report forms with reported sales 

 of $1,000,000 or more or 30,000 acres or more, and other 

 selected problem reports were reviewed by statisticians in the 

 Agriculture Division. Problems that could not be resolved by 

 reference to other information on the report were resolved by 

 contacting the respondents by telephone or correspondence. 



Prior to publication, tabulated totals were reviewed by 

 statisticians to identify any inconsistencies and potential cover- 

 age problems. Comparisons were made with previous census 

 data, estimates published by the USDA and other available 

 check data. Selected report forms were reviewed and problem 

 entries were either verified as being correct or the data were 

 corrected. 



MAJOR DATA CHANGES 



The content of the 1982 census report form is similar to 

 that of the 1978 form. To limit respondent burden, the 1978 

 and 1982 forms included only data items needed at the county 

 level, either on a complete or sample basis. The 1978 census 

 data items which were eliminated from the 1982 form include: 



Land held under foreign ownership 



Gallons purchased of gasoline; diesel fuel; LP gas, butane 



and propane; and fuel oil 

 Animal health costs for livestock and poultry 



The following new data items were added to the 1982 re- 

 port form: 



Interest expense for the farm business 



Source of irrigation water 



Year in which the operator began to operate the farm 



More extensive data on Commodity Credit Corporation 

 (CCC) loans were collected in 1982. 



DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS 



The following definitions and explanations provide a more 

 detailed description of the terms used in this publication than 

 are available in the tables or on the report form. For an exact 

 wording of the questions on the 1982 census report forms and 

 the information sheet which accompanied these forms, see 

 appendix C. 



Most definitions of terms are the same as those used in earlier 

 censuses. The more important exceptions are also noted here. 



Farms or farms reporting— The term "farms" or "farms re- 

 porting" in the presentation of data denotes the number of 

 farms reporting the item. For example, if there are 3,710 

 farms in a State and 842 of them had 28,594 cattle and 

 calves, the data for those farms reporting cattle and calves 

 would appear as: 



Cattle and calves . 



farms. .842 



number. .28,594 



Land in farms— The acreage designated in the tables as "land in 

 "farms" consists primarily of agricultural land used for crops, 

 pasture, or grazing. It also includes woodland and wasteland not 



A-2 APPENDIX A 



1982 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 



