By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Editor

Don’t be surprised if you receive a phone call or visit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the coming weeks. Representatives from USDA’s National Agricultural Statics Service (NASS) have already begun reaching out to the agricultural community for the June 2017 Acreage Report.

“We realize this is an extremely busy time of year for agriculture, so we try to provide several options for responding to the report,” Wilbert Hundl, director of the NASS Southern Plains Regional Field Office, said. “Our data collection period will close on June 13, so producers busy with wheat harvest, or other events can call our Regional Field Office if they missed one of our enumerator appointments.”

NASS will reach out to about 8,600 farms, ranches and dairies to gather input for crop acreage, on-farm grain storage and livestock inventories.

The data will be used for the upcoming acreage report, which provides updated estimates on the number of acres planted with row crops for the 2017 production season.

The results of the survey will be available in aggregate form only, Hundl said, so no individual operation or farmer can or will be identified in the report.

The June Acreage report and the June Grain Stocks report will be issued on June 30 at 11:00 a.m. and will provide updated acreage estimates for major crops and a quarterly review of grain stocks.

Both reports will be available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications.

Results will be issued to respondents whom requested a copy.

Later this year, NASS will also begin gathering information for the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The census is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them.

The census is taken once every five years to look at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures.

NASS will mail questionnaires for the census to farmers and ranchers in December. Completed forms are due Feb. 5, 2018.

Questionnaires may be filled out and mailed back or completed at www.agcensus.usda.gov.