YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Farmers, ranchers encouraged to respond to 2022 Census of Agriculture 

By Gary Joiner
Publisher

Texas farmers and ranchers and those across the country have until Feb. 6 to respond to the 2022 Census of Agriculture.

The Census of Agriculture is done every five years. It covers all of agricultural production. And it's the one and only complete count of farms and ranches in America and the people who operate them.

Topics like land use and ownership, producer characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures are surveyed.

New data topics are also in the ag census. Several notable changes for 2022 include new questions about the use of precision agriculture, hemp production, hair sheep and updates to internet access questions.

Producers can respond online or return their completed questionnaires by mail.

There are always concerns about the confidentiality of responses. Federal law requires that all data remain confidential.

USDA will only publish the data in aggregated terms. No individual names or addresses or identifying features are released in any of the data. Only aggregated information is made available for public use.

It will be interesting to see how the snapshot of U.S. agriculture has changed since the last census in 2017.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

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