WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mailings for the 2022 Census of Agriculture will begin later this month and continue into December, according to officials with the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which is conducting the survey.

Notices will be mailed Nov. 22 to let producers know they may begin filling out the online version of the census. Paper questionnaires will go out beginning Dec. 13. The deadline to complete the census is Feb. 6.

NASS will mail just under three million forms, said Nathanial Warenski, Indiana state statistician for NASS. “(Nov. 22) is the start of the push for farmers to complete the census online,” he explained. “We’re targeting the producers who are very tech savvy.”

The census is conducted every five years. Farm operations of all sizes, urban and rural, which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products in 2022 are included, NASS said.

“(The census) tells the complete story of agriculture,” Warenski noted. “We do surveys every year, we release 450 reports, but this is a big comprehensive view of what’s going on in agriculture. Every crop planted, from soybeans and, in Indiana, mint, from hogs in Carroll County to cattle on the outskirts of Indianapolis. It captures every little thing we can imagine. It tells an important story. Hopefully, it captures trends as well, such as the number of minority and beginning farmers.”

Those who are no longer farming, or who don’t meet the $1,000 threshold, are asked to indicate that on the questionnaire and return it, he said. “If they respond, even if they aren’t in farming, we’re better able to get a handle on the number that went out of business. Even if they’re a small operation, it’s good for them to respond.”

The response rate for the 2017 census was nearly 72 percent, down from 74.5 percent for the 2012 census. Producers are required by federal law to respond.

The census provides agricultural data at the county, state and federal levels, said David Knopf, regional director of the NASS Eastern Mountain Regional Field Office. “I get calls asking for the number of farms in this county or the value of agricultural production in this county. I know the data gets used. It’s the only time you can get this kind of data. We also count the number of farms involved in different kinds of enterprises,” he said.

For the 2017 census, NASS collected demographic data, such as gender and age, for four producers at a given farm, up from the three studied in earlier census years. “We count everybody, we ask how many are involved,” Knopf explained. “In terms of the demographic data, we ask if they’re involved in the decision making part of the operation. (Until 2017), we never really measured the extent of female involvement in ag production.”

This year’s census includes new questions on such topics as the use of precision agriculture, hemp production and internet access. There are also questions about hair sheep, he said.

“There was a period of time when wool was essentially worthless,” Knopf noted. “Producers would make the effort to clip their sheep and get no money in return. Hair sheep breeds have become more popular because they are raised for their meat and they don’t need to be sheared.”

The census highlights the value of U.S. agriculture, land use and ownership, producer characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, among other topics, according to NASS.

“Census of Agriculture data are widely used by federal and local governments, agribusinesses, trade associations, extension educators and many others to inform decisions about policy and farm programs and services that aid producers and rural communities,” Hubert Hamer, NASS administrator, said in a statement. “By responding to the Census of Agriculture – by being represented in these important data – producers are literally helping to shape their futures.”

For more information, visit www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/.