As the 2019 growing season comes to an end, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact producers nationwide to gather final year-end crop production numbers and the amount of grain and oilseeds stored on their farms. At the same time, NASS will survey grain facility operators to determine year-end off-farm grain and oilseed stocks.
“These surveys are the largest and most important year-end surveys conducted by NASS,” explained
NASS’s South Dakota State Statistician Erik Gerlach. “They are the basis for the official USDA
estimates of production and harvested acres of all major agricultural commodities in the United States as
well as grain and oilseed supplies. Data from the survey will benefit farmers and processors by
providing timely and accurate information to help them make crucial year-end business decisions and
begin planning for the next growing and marketing season.”
“Responses to the survey will be used in calculating county-level yields which have a direct impact on
farmers around the State. USDA’s Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering producer
programs and in determining disaster assistance program calculations,” said Gerlach. “NASS cannot
publish a county yield unless it receives enough reports from producers in that county to make a
statistically defensible estimate. So, it is very important that producers respond to this survey. In 2018,
NASS was unable to publish several large producing counties due to an insufficient number of
responses.”
“As required by Federal law, all responses are completely confidential,” Gerlach continued. “We
safeguard the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be
identified. Individual responses are also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.”
Survey results will be published in several reports, including the Crop Production Annual Summary and
the quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on January 10. These and all NASS reports are
available online at www.nass.usda.gov. For more information call the NASS South Dakota Field Office
at 800-582-6443.