FORM 12-A01(I) 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE 
For additional help, call 1-888-424-7828 
Rara ayuda adicional, llamar al 1-888M- 24-7828 
INSTRUCTION SHEET 
UNITED STATES 2012 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 
Your report is due February 4, 2013 
Who Should Report? 
A reply is needed from EVERYONE who receives a report 
form, including persons who operated a farm, ranch or other 
agricultural operation in 2012 as well as those who were not 
involved in agriculture. More census information is on the 
Internet at www.agcensus.usda.gov 
If you do not return your report form, you will 
continue to receive contacts from us. 
If you were a landlord only and rented out all of your land, 
conplete the front page. Sections 1 and 37 of the enclosed 
report form and return it in the preaddressed envelope. If you 
were a landlord but still operated other land yourself, you 
should complete the entire report form for that land wiiich you 
operated. 
If you had uo land, no livestock, and no agricultural 
operations, return the report form with a note indicating your 
status on the front of the form below the address label. 
Partial Year Operations - If you stopped farming during 2012, 
conplete the report form for the portion of the year that you did 
farm. Write “Stopped farming during 2012” and the date you 
stopped farming below the address area. Mail the conpleted 
report form in the return envelope. If the person whose name is 
on the label was deceased during 2012, complete the form for 
the portion of the year that was farmed, and write a note. 
Involved In More Than One Operation - If you made 
decisions for more than one operation, you may have received a 
report form for each operation. Provide information for each 
operation on a separate form. To obtain additional report forms, 
or if you have questions, please call the toll-free help line at 
1-888424-7828. 
Partnership Operation - Conplete only ONE form for the 
entire partnership's agricultural operation and include the entire 
operation that one form. If you made day-to-day decisions for 
more than one partnership operation, corrplete a report form for 
each separate operation. We have listed all known partners 
below the address area to assist in defining the operation. Make 
any necessary corrections to these names. 
If you owned farm or ranch land in 2012 that was idle and 
NOT rented out, you should conplete and return the report 
form. 
Specialty Commodities - Horses, bees, elk, emus, fish, 
nursery, etc., are an important part of the agriculture industry. 
Report for all commodities, regardless of the amount of 
production or sales you had in 2012. 
Land in Federai conservation programs m 2012 - If you had 
land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetlands 
Reserve Program (WRP), Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP), 
or Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and 
you made the decisions on the acres, include the conservation 
land on the report form in Sections 1, 2, and 5. 
Received More Than One Report Form For the Same 
Operation - If you received more than one report foim for the 
same operation, complete only ONE form per operation. Write 
"Duplicate" below the address area of each extra form. Return 
all forms in the same return envelope with your completed form 
so that we can correct our records. 
Entering Your Responses - Use BLUE or BLACK INK only. 
Enter your replies in the unit requested, i.e., dollars, bushels, 
tons, etc. When reporting dollars, report in whole dollars only. 
Convert fractions to decimals. Please print clearly and keep 
numbers and letters within the white boxes. Mark all applicable 
Yes/No and None boxes with an“X”. 
Sectiqw 1| - Acreage iw2012 
Your answers in this section will determine the land (Acres in 
“THIS OPERATION") referred to throughout the report form. 
Include land associated with your agricultural operation in 2012, 
whether in production or not. Include all land that you owned or 
rented during 201 2, even if only for part of the year. Exclude 
residential or commercial land. Report land in whole acres. 
Item 1 (Box A) - Report all land owned in 201 2 whether held 
under deed, purchase contract or mortgage, homestead law, or 
as heir/heiress or trustee of an undivided estate. Include all land 
owned by you and/or your spouse, or by the partnership, 
corporation, or organization named on the front of the report 
form. 
Item 2 (Box B) - Report all land rented or leased by you or your 
operation. Exclude land used under Government grazing 
permits or on a per head or animal unit (AUM) basis. Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) Section 15 land leased by your 
operation with a specified acreage tract should be included here 
even though your fees to BLM are paid on an AUM basis. 
Item 3 (Box C) - Include all land rented out for any purpose if it 
was part of the acreage reported in Items 1 and 2. Your 
tenant(s) will receive a form to report production for the land 
they rent. Do not report land placed in conservation programs 
as acres rented to others. 
Item 3a - Report all land owned by the operation and rented or 
leased to others. 
Item 4 (Box D) - This is all land you operated at any time in 
2012. Land use in Section 2 should be reported for these acres. 
Item 6 Total acres equals zero (0) - After cortpleting Section 1, 
if the acres in Item 4, BOX D equals zero and you did not raise 
or ovm any livestock, aquaculture, or poulhy in 2012, write a 
description of land use in the space by question 6. Complete 
Section 37 and mail the report fonn in the return envelope. 
Sectiow2 - Land 
The total (Item 5) of the acres from Items 1 - 4 entered in BOX 
E should equal the total acres in Section 1, Item 4, BOX D. 
These acres represent “this operation” for this census report. If 
these two numbers are not the same, please GO BACK and 
CORRECT your figures. Do not report any crops grown on 
land rented or leased to others or worked by others on shares 
during 2012. 
Land usedfor more than one purpose - Do not rep ort the same 
acreage in more than one of the listed categories. If part or all of 
your land was used for more than one listed purpose in 2012, 
report that land only in the first purpose listed. For example, if 
you planted and harvested a grain crop and grazed the crop 
residue in the fall, report the land in Item la, cropland 
harvested. Do not report those acres again in Item 2c pasture or 
grazing land. 
CRP/WRP and other conservaUon programs - Report these 
acres in the Items in this section that best describe them For 
example, CRP land may be reported in cropland harvested, 
cropland idle, or woodland not pastured depending on its use. 
Item la - Land maintained for orchards or vineyards should be 
recorded even if the crop failed, or the trees or vines are not of 
bearing age. Abandoned acres of orchards or vineyards should 
be reported in Item Id. Harvested cropland includes trees for 
fruit, nuts, and berries along with Christmas trees and short 
rotation woody crops. Do not include the area harvested for 
timber or firewood. If more than one crop was harvested from 
the same land in 2012, report that land as cropland harvested 
only once. 
Item lb - Include land you intended to harvest but were forced 
to abandon or had the crop fail. 
Item Ic - Include cropland left unseeded for the 2012 harvest 
and summer fallowed, cultivated by tillage, or treated with 
herbicides to control weeds and conserve moisture. Include 
cropland summer fallowed in 2012 even though it may have 
been planted to wheat, etc., for the 2013 harc'est. 
Section 3 - Cash Rents 
Include all acres rented from others on a cash basis. If you rent 
a whole farm from someone else that includes dwellings and 
buildings, exclude the whole farm acres from this section. 
A -34 APPENDIX 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
