USDA to survey farmers' harvested acreage

How many acres of wheat, oats or rye did farmers plant and harvest this season? What was the actual yield of those harvested acres? How much of these commodities do they have stored on-farm? These are just some of the critical questions the Georgia Field Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service will be asking more than 1,100 producers statewide as part of the September Agricultural Survey.

"The September Agricultural Survey, also known as the crops/stocks survey, is one of the most important surveys conducted each year by NASS," explained Doug Kleweno, director of the NASS Georgia Field Office.

"This survey is the basis for the official USDA estimates of production and harvested acres of all major agricultural commodities in the United States for the 2007 crop year."

"Data from the September Agricultural Survey benefits farmers by providing timely and accurate information to help them make critical year-end business decisions and evaluate the success of the growing season," added Kleweno.

During the first two weeks of September, NASS will contact selected Georgia producers by mail, telephone or personal interviews and ask them to provide information on their 2007 production and onfarm stocks of corn, soybeans, sorghum grain, wheat and oats. The information will be compiled and analyzed and then published in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Small Grains summary and quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on Sept. 28.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. "NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state and national-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified," stated Kleweno.

All reports are available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Georgia Field Office at 800-253-4419.