<b>By KEVIN WALKER<br>
Michigan Correspondent</b> </p><p>

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is gearing up for its annual in-depth survey to measure Michigan farmers’ economic well-being.
The Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is the USDA’s primary source of information on production practices, resource use and economic well-being of America’s farm households. Unlike the Census of Agriculture, ARMS is done every year and is voluntary.<br>
“ARMS is much more in-depth about the economics of the farm operations than the Census of Agriculture,” said Vince Matthews, deputy director of the Michigan Field Office. “It’s used by a lot of different government agencies to help in setting up regulations and getting a sense of what their policies are going to be.”<br>
The ARMS is a three-phase survey. The first phase collects general farm data, which is used to see if the farm qualifies for the other phases of the survey. The first phase is done May to July.<br>
The second phase surveys up to five predetermined commodities in a given year. That phase is conducted September to December. Producers who participated in phase two are asked to participate in phase three, also.<br>
The information gleaned from the survey is used by the USDA, Congress, producers, commodity organizations, agribusiness and other stakeholders. Beginning in mid-February, field workers from the NASS will contact 650 producers to complete phase three of the survey. They will be asked to provide data on their operating expenditures, production costs and “household characteristics.”<br>
Matthews said typically, it’s a challenge to get producers to participate in the survey because it’s longer and more complicated than other surveys. The agency is emphasizing that participation in the survey is important, because producers rely on good information as well as sound government policies to run their businesses successfully.<br>
The NASS publishes two ARMS reports. The first, called Agricultural Chemical Usage-Field Crops, is released in May following the phase-two data collection. The second report, Farm Production Expenditures, compiled from phase three, is released in August. The most recent reports can be viewed at the NASS website by clicking on the “Publications” tab.<br>
The Economic Research Service (ERS) also prepares several state, regional, and national reports using ARMS data, including Commodity Production Costs and Returns, Farm Business and Household Survey Data and the Annual Report to Congress on the Status of Family Farms. It also produces much other data using information from the annual survey.<br>
The website address for NASS is www.nass.usda.gov and the website for the ERS is www.ers.usda.gov