Ethanol. A fuel produced by converting crops such 
as corn and sugarcane, biomass crops, or wood. This 
fuel is generally blended with gasoline. Production 
of ethanol for fuel requires a permit from the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). Only 
ethanol production for fuel was reported. 
Geoexchange systems. A system that uses 
temperatures from the earth to reduce the operational 
costs of heating and cooling. 
Methane digesters. It is a device which captures 
biogas resulting from the decomposition of manure, 
processing by-products, and other materials. 
Harvested biogas is used as a substitute for natural 
gas to power engines which generate electricity. It is 
fed into the natural gas pipeline or flared. Methane 
digesters were reported only if in production and 
used in 2012. 
Small hydro systems. A water driven system, which 
produces electricity, by the gravitational force of 
falling or flowing water. It excludes water driven 
systems that only provide mechanical power, such as 
turning a grinding stone for a flour mill. 
Solar panels. A flat panel designed to capture the 
sun’s energy. Include photovoltaic systems, which 
convert light from the sun into electricity, and 
thermal systems that passively generate electricity. 
Wind turbines. A device which converts wind power 
into electricity. Include wind generators, wind power 
units, wind energy converters and aero generators. 
Exclude windmills, which do not produce electricity. 
Reservation acres on farm. Total amount of land 
on reservation. 
Sales, total. See Market value of agricultural 
products sold. 
Sheep and lambs inventory. Data for reservations 
in Western States (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MN, 
MT, NV, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY) are for sheep 
and lambs of all ages owned regardless of location. 
Data for all reservations in other States are for sheep 
and lambs of all ages on the operation regardless of 
ownership. Sheep and lambs were collected in their 
own section to clarify to respondents when to report 
A- 8 APPENDIX 
“owned” sheep and lambs versus any sheep and 
lambs on the operation. 
Size of farm. See Farms by size. 
Small hydro systems. See Renewable energy 
producing systems. 
Solar panels. See Renewable energy producing 
systems. 
Squash, all. All squash is a summation of summer 
squash and winter squash. Total acres, acres for fresh 
market, and acres for processing were collected by 
category. 
Tenure. See Farms by tenure of operator. 
Total cropland. This category includes cropland 
harvested, other pasture and grazing land that could 
have been used for crops without additional 
improvements, cropland on which all crops failed or 
were abandoned, cropland in cultivated summer 
fallow, and cropland idle or used for cover crops or 
soil improvement but not harvested and not pastured 
or grazed. 
Total farm production expenses. Includes the 
production expenses provided by the operators, 
partners, landlords (excluding property taxes), and 
production contractors for the farm business in 2012. 
Tenant farmers reported expenses paid by landlords 
for the agricultural production on the operation, as 
well as their expenses. Farm or ranch operators who 
rented part of their land to others reported only the 
expenses for the land they actually used themselves 
and not expenses for land rented to others. The 2012 
total farm production expenditure includes all farm- 
related expenses such as customwork, fuel costs, cost 
of cutting timber, services provided to hunters, 
cooperative membership fees, etc. However, if the 
income from these farm-related categories was not 
considered a part of the operation (i.e., if the income 
was regarded as derived from a separate business), 
then the associated expenses were not included. The 
contractor’s portion of expenses was solely based on 
computer generated estimates for 2012. 
This item excludes expenses relating to non-farm 
activities such as trading and speculation in the 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
