NEWS RELEASE Agriculture STATISTICS HEARTLAND MISSOURI

 FIELD OFFICE 601 Business Loop 70 West, Suite 213E, Columbia, Missouri 65203

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bob Garino May 2015 (800) 551-1014

USDA SEEKS INPUT FROM GROWERS ABOUT 2015 CROPS, STOCKS, INVENTORIES, VALUES

Columbia, MO – During the next several weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural

Survey and the June Area Survey. The agency will survey over 6000 farms across Missouri to determine

crop acreage for 2015 and stocks on hand as of June 1.

“Due to the widespread impact of its results, the June Agricultural Survey, also known as the Crops/Stocks Survey, and the June Area Survey, are two of the most significant surveys NASS conducts,” explained Bob Garino, director of the NASS Missouri Office.

“Information growers provide serves as the first clear sign of the prospective production and supply of major commodities in the United States for the 2015 crop year.”

NASS gathers the data for the June Agriculture Survey online, by mail and/or by phone. For the June Area Survey, agency representatives will visit randomly selected tracts of land and interview the operators of any farm or ranch on that land. Growers will provide information on crop acreage – including biotech crops—as well as grain stocks, livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and value of sales.

NASS will compile and analyze the survey information and publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Acreage report and quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released June30, 2015. Survey data contribute to NASS’s monthly and annual Crop Production reports, as well as the annual Small Grains Summary and USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is kept strictly confidential, as required by federal 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 Garino. “We recognize this is

a hectic time for farmers around the state, but the information they provide is essential to everyone involved in U.S. agriculture. I urge them to respond to these surveys and thank them for their cooperation,” he added.

All reports are available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on

NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Missouri Field Office at (800) 551-1014.

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NASS provides accurate, timely, useful and objective statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. We invite you provide occasional feedback on our

products and services. Sign up at http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/subscriptions and look for “NASS Data User Community.”

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights,

1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).