Contributed report

The Agricultural Resource Management Survey is one way that USDA and producers work together to provide meaningful and accurate statistical information and services that help keep US agriculture and rural communities among the most robust in the world. Producers selected to participate in the ARMS will be making an important contribution to the overall welfare of the US agricultural community.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Alabama Field Office will conduct the Agricultural Resource Management Survey this fall. Nearly 8,000 of the nation’s farmers will be selected to report their production practices. Approximately 200 local cotton producers will be included and every response is important for Alabama producers to be accurately represented.

This survey gives participants an opportunity to provide pertinent information about issues that affect them, such as the use of fertilizers and pesticides on crops. Results from this survey will be used to develop agricultural production practices that improve productivity for farm operators and ensure a safer, cleaner working environment for producers, their families and communities. A critical use of the information is in the recertification process of vitally needed agricultural chemicals.

“The cotton industry is always in need of data on agricultural practices and survey data on inputs,” said Dr. Frank Carter, senior scientist for the National Cotton Council. “Solid information on chemical use enables our industry to respond to issues where such data are essential.”

Selected operators will be notified by letter, and interviewers from the Alabama Field Office will visit them personally to collect the reports at their convenience. USDA will use the results to publish information on agricultural chemical usage and analyze commodity production costs and returns in a series of reports in 2006.

“We safeguard the confidentiality of all survey responses,” Herb Vanderberry, director of the Alabama Field Office, said. “Data about individual operations are used only in conjunction with information from other producers.”

All agricultural statistics published by NASS are available at http://www.usda.gov/nass. For more information, call (800) 832-4181.