m 



here do the numbers come from? 



Aubrey R. Davis 



Who has heard of the National Agricultural Statis- 

 tics Service |NASS)? What do they do? Who cares 

 anyway? These are good questions because most 

 likely you are paying for this service through your 

 federal tax dollars. Yes, this is part of the huge 

 federal bureaucracy that is getting considerable 

 attention in current media. The following informa- 

 tion will attempt to shed some light on this 

 rather small agency of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and a local field office called 

 the New England Agricultural Statistics Service. 



The foundation of NASS was established within 

 ^mmmmmm^^ USDA In 1863 when the first statis- 



From 1984-1993, tics were published. This marked 

 the number of farms the beginning of a continuous se- 



^1 u I ■ ties of statistics for and about asri- 

 in New Hampshire ^ 



culture Farmers were at a major 



dropped from disadvantage because buyers were 



3,400 to 2,700; knowledgeable due to their travel 



the average size of ^° "^^^V ^^'"^^ '" ^ region. A farmer 



may have known the condition of 



the farm increased ^js neighbors' crops, but little else 



from 159 acres about the supply and demand for 



to 170 acres; and l^'s product. USDA statistics level 



, , the "playing field" by providing 



the total acreage ^. , .1 



* timely, accurate data to everyone 



in farms decreased in the marketplace. Great care is 

 from 540,000 to taken to ensure that all estimates 

 a6o 000 ^^^ carefully guarded until the offi- 



' cial release day and time. 



NASS is considered the data collection arm of 

 the USDA The mission of NASS is "to serve the 

 United States, its agriculture, and its rural com- 

 munities by providing meaningful, accurate, and 

 objective statistical information and services." 



Statistical data on U.S. agriculture is essential 

 for the orderly development of production and 

 marketing decisions by farmers, ranchers and 

 other agribusiness managers. These data series 

 are also used for monitoring the ever-changing 

 agricultural sector and for making and carrying 

 out agricultural policy relating to farm program 

 legislation, commodity programs, agricultural re- 

 search, and rural development 



Thousands of farmers, growers, and others vol- 

 untarily respond to nationwide surveys about 

 crops, livestock, prices, and other agricultural ac- 

 tivities These surveys are supplemented by field 

 observations, objective yield counts and mea- 

 surements, and administrative data 



The NASS program utilizes 45 State Statistical 

 Offices (SSO'sl serving all 50 states These of- 

 fices are operated under cooperative funding 

 arrangements with State Departments of Agricul- 

 ture and/or land-grant universities ^^^,^^g^^^gg^^ 

 This arrangement efficiently From 1984-1993, 

 serves data needs at both the 



gross fa) 



income in 



state and federal levels and 



eliminates duplication of effort ^"^ Hampshire rose 



Cooperative agreements provide from $146 million to 



additional agricultural data for ^^qi „„iii„„_ and net 



state and local needs while mini- , . 



I, » » ^ farm income rose from 



mizing overall costs to taxpayers. ■' ■' 



Now, let's get a little closer to $2,5.3 million 

 home. The headquarters for the to $57.6 million. 

 New England SSO is Concord, 



New Hampshire, We are located at 22 Bridge 

 Street on the third floor of the Ralph Pill Market 

 Place. Our staff consists of one part-time and 15 

 full-time federal employees, plus several 

 contract employees who serve as data entry or 

 telephone data collectors when needed. We also 

 have about 50 contract employees who work as 

 field data collectors These people are located in 

 all six states in the region wmam^^^^^^^^^^^ 



Data collection is one of our From 1987 to 1993, 

 most visible activities. Much of the greenhouse/nursery 

 our data is collected by mail. industry increased cash 



However, we are using the tele- 



, ^ receipts from $30 million 



phone more every year to give ^^ -' ■' 



us additional time for data analy- '" «35-7 million, and 



sis, estimate preparation, and the greenhouse/nursery 



publication. We have two com- industry is the fastest 



prehensive surveys that are done 



growing sector in 

 exclusively by personal interview. 



Most of the estimates that agriculture. 



we generate are based on national USDA policy. 

 Included under this policy are official crop esti- 

 mates for apples, cranberries, maple syrup, 

 peaches, pears, corn silage, hay, potatoes, to- 

 bacco, tomatoes, sweet corn, oats, and floricul- 

 ture. The livestock program consists of various 

 estimates for dairy, beef, sheep, hogs and pigs, 

 and poultry. Wild blueberries in Maine are part 

 of the cooperative program funded by the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture. 



Not all estimates are prepared for all six states. 

 Inclusion is usually determined by the concentra- 

 tion of a specific commodity within the state and 

 the availability of federal funding. This leaves 



August & September IP95 



