practices. 
Operations with land enrolled in the CRP, WRP, 
FWP, or CREP were counted as farms, given they 
received $1,000 or more in government payments, 
even if they had no sales and otherwise lacked the 
potential to have $1,000 or more in sales. 
Land in berries. Data are for total land in berries. 
Respondents also reported harvested acres and not 
harvested acres by individual berry crops. 
Land in farms. The acreage designated as “land in 
farms” consists primarily of agricultural land used 
for crops, pasture, or grazing. It also includes 
woodland and wasteland not actually under 
cultivation or used for pasture or grazing, provided it 
was part of the farm operator’s total operation. Large 
acreages of woodland or wasteland held for 
nonagricultural purposes were deleted from 
individual reports during the edit process. Land in 
farms includes CRP, WRP, FWP, and CREP acres. 
Land in farms is an operating unit concept and 
includes land owned and operated as well as land 
rented from others. Land used rent free was reported 
as land rented from others. All grazing land, except 
land used under government permits on a per-head 
basis, was included as “land in farms” provided it 
was part of a farm or ranch. Land under the 
exclusive use of a grazing association was reported 
by the grazing association and included as land in 
farms. All land in American Indian reservations used 
for growing crops, grazing livestock, or with the 
potential of grazing livestock was included as land in 
farms. Land in reservations not reported by 
reservation, individual American Indians, or non- 
Native Americans was reported in the name of the 
cooperative group that used the land. In many 
instances, an entire American Indian reservation was 
reported as one farm. 
Land in orchards. This category includes land in 
bearing age and nonbearing age fruit trees, citrus or 
other groves, vineyards, and nut trees of all ages, 
including land on which all fruit crops failed. 
Respondents also reported bearing age acres and 
nonbearing age acres by individual fruit and nut 
crops. Respondents were instructed not to report 
abandoned plantings and plantings of fewer than 20 
total fruit, citrus, or nut trees or grapevines. 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
Land in two or more counties. With few 
exceptions, the land in each farm was tabulated as 
being in the operator’s principal county. The 
principal county was defined as the one where the 
largest value of agricultural products was raised or 
produced. It was usually the county containing all or 
the largest proportion of the land in the farm or 
viewed by the respondent as his/her principal county. 
Reports received showing land in more than one 
county were separated into two or more reports if the 
data would substantially distort county totals. 
Land use practices. This is a new category for 
2012. It includes all agricultural land used for the 
production of agricultural commodities. 
Drained by tile. Tile drainage is a practice that 
removes excess water from the soils subsurface. 
Artificially drained by ditches. A field ditch installed 
for surface drainage for collecting excess surface or 
subsurface water in a field. 
Conservation easement. A conservation easement is 
a legal agreement voluntarily entered into by a 
property owner and a qualified conservation 
organization such as a land trust or government 
agency 
No-till practices used. Using no-till or minimum till 
is a practice used for weed control and helps reduce 
weed seed germination by not disturbing the soil. 
Conservation tillage . Conserves the soil by reducing 
erosion and decreasing water pollution. 
Conventional tillage. Refers to tillage operations that 
use standard practices for a specific location and 
crop to bury crop residues. 
Cover crop. A crop planted primarily to manage soil 
fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, or 
wildlife. 
Land used for vegetables. Data are for the total 
land used for vegetable and melon crops. The acres 
were reported only once, even though two or more 
harvests of a vegetable or more than one vegetable 
were harvested from the same acres. Respondents 
also reported harvested acres, acres harvested for 
APPENDIX B B - 13 
