Write-in crops— To reduce the length of the report form, only 

 the major crops for the region were prelisted. For other crops, 

 the respondent was requested to look at a list of crops in each 

 section and write in the crop name and its code. For crops 

 that had no individual code listed on the report form, the 

 respondent was to write in the crop name and code the crop 

 into the appropriate "all other" category for that section. 

 Write-in crops coded as "all other" were reviewed and as- 

 signed a specific code when possible. Crops not assigned a 

 specific code were left in the appropriate "all other" category. 

 In some cases, the reviewers were unable to determine the 

 specific crop reported by the respondent because of incomplete 

 or generalized crop names. To ensure prooer coding, most of 

 these respondents were telephoned. Reports for those not 

 telephoned were changed on the basis of other reports for the 

 area. 



Misreported or miscoded crops— In a few instances, tabulated 

 data may be inaccurate because respondents misunderstood or 

 misinterpreted questions on the report form. Data may have 

 been reported on the wrong line or in the wrong section, or 

 the wrong crop code may have been placed beside the name of 

 a write-in crop. Some of these errors as well as some keying 

 errors may not have been identified during processing and 

 therefore were not corrected. Reports with significant acres 

 of unusual crops for the area were examined to minimize the 

 possibility that they were in error. 



Changes in crop wording— Changes were made to the wording of 

 selected crop items on the 1982 census forms. These items are 

 listed with the wording used in 1978. The 1982 and 1978 data 

 are comparable for all items, except improved pecans and wild 

 and seedling pecans which were combined. 



Dry edible beans, excluding dry limas—Jhe 1978 wording 

 was "dry field and seed beans." 



Dry edible peas— The 1978 wording was "dry field and seed 

 peas". Dry edible peas exclude Austrian winter peas, wrin- 

 kled seed peas, and southern peas or cowpeas. 



Green cowpeas and green southern peas; cowpeas and south- 

 ern peas for dry peas— The wording for these items was 

 changed for 1982 to include the term "southern peas," a 

 more common term for cowpeas. 



Honey tangerines— The 1978 wording was "murcotts.". 



Other tangerines— The 1978 wording was "tangerines and 

 mandarins." 



Pecans— The 1978 categories "improved pecans" and "wild 

 and seedling pecans" have been combined into "pecans" for 

 1982. 



"See text" References 



Items in the tables which carry the note "See text" are ex- 

 plained or defined in this section. 



Data are based on a sample of farms- For 1982 and 1978, selec- 

 ted data were collected from only a sample of farms. These data 

 are subject to sampling error. For 1982, the 5-page sample form 

 was mailed to all large and specialized farms (based on expected 



sales, acres, or standard industrial classification), all farms in 

 Alaska and Hawaii, and approximately 17 percent of all other 

 farms. Sample sections 22 through 28 of the 1982 census forms 

 include inquiries on commercial fertilizer and lime, chemicals, 

 interest expense, machinery and equipment, expenditures for 

 energy and petroleum products, selected production expenses, 

 and value of land and buildings. Estimates of the reliability of 

 county totals for selected items are shown in table E. 



Principal source of irrigation water-The acres irrigated by 

 principal source were derived based on reported percentages 

 of water obtained by source. See appendix C for an example 

 of section 11, Land Irrigated. When irrigation water was ob- 

 tained from two or more sources, the acres irrigated were 

 included only once under the source from which the largest 

 percentage of water was obtained. 



1974 data apply only to individual or family operations (sole 

 proprietorships) and partnerships— For 1974, farm operator 

 characteristics were not collected from corporations, coopera- 

 tives, prison farms, grazing associations, and Indian reservations. 

 For 1982 and 1978, characteristics and occupation of the senior 

 partner or person in charge were collected from all farms. 



Farms operated by Black and other races— This category in- 

 cludes Blacks, American Indians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, 

 and all other racial groups other than White. 



All other races— This category is primarily limited to persons 

 native to or of ancestry from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Cen- 

 tral and South America. 



Farms reporting no interest expense— This category includes 

 only reports without dollars reported and the "no" box checked 

 for the yes/no screening question in section 24. See appendix 

 C for an example of section 24, Interest Expense. 



Total sales— This item represents the gross market value of all 

 agricultural products sold before taxes and expenses in the 

 census year including livestock, poultry, and their products; 

 and crops, including nursery products, and hay. Respondents 

 were asked to include landlords' and contractors' shares. As in 

 prior census years, the value of commodities placed in CCC 

 loans are included as sold. Sales of forest products were not 

 included in 1978 or 1982. The 1974 data included sales of 

 forest products from those places qualifying as farms through 

 other agricultural production. 



Farms with sales of less than $2,500- In 1982 and 1978, this 

 category included all farms, except abnormal farms, with ac- 

 tual sales of less than $2,500. In 1974, farms with sales of less 

 than $2,500 but having the production potential for sales of 

 $2,500 and over are included in the category "$2,500 to 

 $4,999." 



Farms with sales of less than $1,000— This category includes all 

 farms, except abnormal farms, with actual sales of less than 

 $1,000 but having the production potential for sales of $1,000 

 or more. 



Abnormal farms— This category includes institutional farms, 

 experimental and research farms, and Indian reservations. In- 

 stitutional farms include those operated by hospitals, peni- 



A-6 APPENDIX A 



1982 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 



