Appendix B. 
General Explanation and Census of Agriculture Report Form 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENSUS 
REPORT FORMS 
Prior to release of the results from the 2007 Census 
of Agrieulture, NASS was preparing for the 2012 
Census of Agrieulture. The first team established 
was the 2012 Census Content Team. This team was 
tasked with eontent determination and report form 
development. They reviewed the 2007 report form 
eontent, solieited input from internal and external 
eustomers, developed eriteria for determining 
aeeeptanee and/or rejeetion of eontent for the 2012 
Census of Agrieulture report forms, tested the 
effeetiveness of the report forms for various modes 
of data eolleetion (mail, telephone, personal 
interview, and eleetronie data reporting), and made 
reeommendations to NASS senior exeeutives for 
final determination. 
Throughout development NASS sought adviee and 
input from the data user eommunity. Integral 
partners ineluded the Advisory Committee on 
Agrieulture Statisties, State departments of 
agrieulture and other State government offieials. 
Federal ageney offieials, land grant universities, 
agrieultural trade assoeiations, media, and various 
Community Based Organizations. 
NASS eondueted the 2010 Census of Agrieulture 
Content Test in early 2011. The test eonsisted of 
three phases: eognitive pretesting, national mail-out, 
and follow-up interviews. Results from the testing 
produeed one final report form type — a 24-page 
regionalized form with 7 versions (12-AlOl thru 12- 
A107). The regionalized report forms inelude erop 
seetions designed to faeilitate reporting erops most 
eommonly grown within a report form region. Many 
items in these seetions are either prelisted in the 
tables or listed below the tables. A sample eopy of 
the report form and instruetion sheet is ineluded in 
this appendix. 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
DATA CHANGES 
Following are deseriptions of the report form 
ehanges and their effeet on the publieation tables. 
Crop Data Changes 
Added items inelude: 
• Miseanthus harvested 
• Switehgrass harvested 
• Camelina harvested 
• Mint for tea leaves harvested 
• Total square feet under proteetion and aeres in the 
open for nursery, greenhouse, florieulture, sod, 
mushrooms, vegetable seeds, and propagative 
materials. 
• Cropland aeres planted to a eover erop 
Items listed separately on the 2012 report form that 
were reported in eonjunetion with similar erop items 
on the 2007 report form inelude: 
• Hay and forage erops sales 
• Fruit and nuts sales 
• Berries sales 
• Cut Christmas Tree value of sales 
• Short rotation woody erops value of sales 
• Maple syrup sales 
Livestock and Poultry Data Changes 
Deleted items inelude: 
• Aquaeulture pounds and number sold 
• Bee eolonies sold 
• Layers and pullets eombined sold 
• Mink, ineluding pelts 
• Rabbits, ineluding pelts 
• Total horses sold 
Added items inelude: 
APPENDIX B B - 1 
