Overview (narratives)
National Agricultural Statistics Service
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) administers the United States Department of Agriculture's program for collecting and publishing timely national and state agricultural statistics. In 1862, the first Commissioner of the newly formed Department of Agriculture, Isaac Newton, established a goal to "collect, arrange, and publish statistical and other useful agricultural information." A year later, in July 1863, the Department's Division of Statistics issued the Nation's first official Crop Production report.
The structure of farming, ranching, and the agricultural industry has changed dramatically during the succeeding 130 years. The need for accurate, timely, and objective statistical information about the Nation's agriculture has become even more important as the country has moved from subsistence agriculture to a highly industrialized business that produces food and fiber for the world market.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service now publishes nearly 400 reports a year with official estimates covering over 120 crops and 45 livestock items. Each report is issued according to a published annual calendar of release dates. Strict security procedures ensure that no one gains premature access to the information. In addition, NASS has a strong tradition of cooperation with other federal agencies, state departments of agriculture, and universities to supplement the federal statistics program. The state-federal cooperative relationship, which began over 75 years ago, eliminates duplication and provides state input while maintaining consistency in surveys conducted across the U.S.
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The official estimates prepared by NASS are based on data obtained from farm and ranch operators, as well as from agribusinesses such as grain elevators, shippers, processors, and commercial storage firms. Scientifically designed sampling methods are used to determine the operations to be included in each survey. Operators are interviewed by professionally trained interviewers, either in person or by telephone.
In some instances operators will receive a questionnaire by mail with a postage-paid return envelope. Anyone not returning the form is usually telephoned; however, survey response is voluntary. Very stringent laws and procedures protect the confidentiality of each operator's response.
NASS maintains extensive lists of farm and ranch operations along with identifiers that indicate size and type of operation. NASS also maintains complete lists of grain storage facilities, commercial operations such as feedlots, cold storage facilities, and manufactured dairy processors. Nearly every report issued by NASS is based on survey sample data collected from farms or other agribusinesses selected from these lists.
NASS also maintains an area sampling frame. The area frame, which is essentially the entire land mass of the United States, ensures complete coverage of the U.S. farm population. The Area Frame Survey provides accurate estimates of crop acres and is the primary basis for the June Acreage report. The area frame is also used to measure the incompleteness of the list frame.
Sampling from the area frame is a multi-step process. First, all land in each state is classified into land use categories by the intensity of cultivation using a variety of map products, satellite imagery, and computer software packages. These land use classifications range from intensively cultivated land to marginally cultivated grazing land to urban areas. The land in each use category is then divided into segments ranging from about 1 square mile in cultivated areas to 0.1 square mile in urban areas. This allows intensively cultivated land segments to be selected with a greater frequency than those less intensively cultivated.
Nearly 12,000 area segments are selected nationwide for the large scale survey conducted each June. Using maps and aerial photos that show the exact site and boundaries of each sample segment, interviewers locate and interview every operator with land inside the segment boundaries. They obtain information on the crops planted in each field, livestock inventory, and quantities of grain in storage.
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A considerable amount of data is also available from other organizations, both private and public. This administrative data is used to evaluate the accuracy of production estimates and to determine the final estimates. The information becomes available during the marketing year but often after the preliminary production estimates are determined. Some examples of administrative data follow.
Utilization data. Information about imports, exports, soybean crush, and industrial use are available from the Bureau of the Census. These data are used in a balance sheet that starts with carryover stocks from the previous year and the current production estimate, which measures total supply. At the end of the marketing year, when subtracting utilization data from the supplies at the beginning of the crop year, the result should correspond closely with the ending stocks. If there is a large unexplained difference between survey stocks and indicated stocks from the balance sheet, then the previous year acreage, yield, and production survey and stocks data are reviewed to determine if revisions should be made.
Slaughter statistics. NASS receives data through the Food Safety and Inspection Service about the number of animals inspected at slaughter operations. These data are used to monitor the accuracy of the livestock production statistics.
Price statistics. Extensive use is made of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service market news data to
prepare the monthly average prices received from the sales of livestock species. Also, Bureau of Labor price indices are used to measure the relative changes in prices paid for production input items.
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NASS is a world leader in the use of statistical methodology to produce statistics about agriculture. NASS statisticians provide consultative services to a large number of developing countries around the world, helping them develop statistical information about their agriculture. NASS has also been a leader in making information available through electronic media. Globalization of markets is expanding as buyers and sellers have nearly instant access to market information from around the world.
The 1997 U.S. Census of Agriculture is now available. February 1, 1999, NASS released national, state, and county data from the 1997 Census of Agriculture. The census of agriculture is conducted every 5 years and is the most complete accounting of U.S. agriculture and the only source of uniform, comprehensive data for every county in the nation.
This information is currently available on the Internet at www.usda.gov/nass/. To order a printed copy or a CD-ROM, call our subscription sales desk at 800-999-6779. For more detail on the census of agriculture information call 800-727-9540.
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NASS National and State reports, data, agricultural graphics, and Agency information are available on the Internet. From the NASS Homepage there are nine areas that can be accessed for more information. "Today's Reports" is one of the areas and is updated every day showing the reports released for that day. Reports are generally available within 5 minutes after release time.
The NASS Homepage address is: http://www.usda.gov/nass/
Electronic Subscriptions
All of the NASS National reports are also available via an automated mailing list. You may subscribe to as many reports as you wish and they will be sent directly to your e-mail address within 3 hours of release, all at no charge.
For further information, send an e-mail to:
usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu
and in the body of the message, type the word: list. Additional information is also available by selecting Publications from the NASS Homepage.
1999 Corn Production Fourth Highest on Record
Corn for grain production is estimated at 9.44 billion bushels, down 3 percent from the 1998 crop. The 1999 production ranks as the fourth highest production on record behind the 1994, 1998, and 1992 respective crop years. The U. S. yield of 133.8 bushels per acre was down 0.6 bushel from last year.
Planted area totaled 77.4 million acres, 3 percent less than in 1998. Acres harvested for grain, at 70.5 million acres, were also down by 3 percent from 1998. For most states, abandoned acres were at or below the normal levels in 1999.
Corn planting proceeded rapidly and was 96 percent complete by May 29, 1999. Favorable conditions prevailed over most of the Corn Belt through the summer months. Some areas of the Corn Belt were subjected to heat stress for a short time during late July. Corn ripened quickly in September and October and harvest proceeded well ahead of normal due to dry weather. As of November 14, harvest was 98 percent complete.
Record-Setting Soybean Acreage
Production in 1999 totaled 2.64 billion bushels, 4 percent below 1998 and the third highest production. The average yield per acre in 1999 is estimated at 36.5 bushels, 2.4 bushels below the 1998 yield. Planted area for the U.S., at 73.8 million acres, was up 2 percent from 1998 and the largest planted acreage on record. Harvested area totaled 72.5 million acres, also a record and 3 percent above 1998. Yields as a whole were lower in 1999 as a result of moisture shortages during critical pod development and filling stages in many areas of the Corn Belt, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern growing regions. Planting of the 1999 soybean crop was delayed during May, but by the end of June was ahead of normal and 1998. States in the Mid-Atlantic and eastern Corn Belt experienced very dry to drought conditions for much of July. Extremely high temperatures during the last two weeks of July stressed most of the soybean growing areas, especially localities that were experiencing moisture shortages. By the end of August, crop conditions had deteriorated in much of the Delta region, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic region as soil moisture levels remained depleted and high temperatures persisted. Despite some delays caused by rain, soybean harvest progressed well ahead of normal. Harvest was nearing completion by November 14, as 97 percent had been harvested
All Wheat Production Lower
Production for 1999 is estimated at 2.30 billion bushels, down 10 percent from the 1998 level. Record winter wheat yields helped to offset an 11 percent drop in harvested acres from 1998. This was the smallest harvested winter area since 1972. For the most part, the Nation's 1999 winter wheat crop wintered well. Lower prices resulted in additional and later cattle grazing in the Great Plains. Dry conditions in the Pacific Northwest region, resulted in some winter wheat acreage being reseeded.
Processing Production Up 23 Percent from 1998
Processing production of 10 selected vegetables in 1999 totaled 19.0 million tons, up 23 percent from 1998. Area harvested, at 1.51 million acres, was up 5 percent from last year. Production decreases were registered in 2 of the 10 crops. Lima beans declined 9 percent and green peas declined 5 percent. The three largest percentage production increases were in tomatoes, beets, and snap beans with increases of 37, 13, and 6 percent, respectively. Processing crop value, at 1.66 billion dollars, was up 22 percent from last year. California leads the nation with 24 percent of the harvested acreage, 66 percent of the production, and 55 percent of the value.
Fresh Market Production Up 7 Percent from 1998
Fresh market vegetable and melon production for 25 selected crops in 1999 totaled 451 million hundredweight, up 7 percent from 1998. Value of the 1999 crop was estimated at 7.55 billion dollars, a decrease of 6 percent from last year. Harvested area covered 1.90 million acres, up 2 percent from a year ago. California continued to be the leading fresh market State, accounting for 45 percent of the harvested area, 51 percent of production, and 54 percent of the value. The three largest crops in terms of production were head lettuce, onions, and watermelon, which combined to account for 41 percent of the total production. Head lettuce, tomatoes, and onions were the most valuable crops, accounting for 34 percent of the total value when combined.
Fruit and Nut Utilized Production Increases
In 1999, the Nation's utilized production of the leading noncitrus fruit crops totaled 17.1 million tons, up 4 percent from 1998's production. Utilized production increased from last year for all crops except apples, apricots, tart cherries, dates, figs, kiwifruit, and prunes and plums. Grape utilized production accounted for just over half of the increase from 1998.
Value of utilized production for noncitrus fruit crops totaled a record 8.24 billion dollars, up 14 percent from 1998. The value of apple, grape, and peach production increased by 27 percent, 11 percent, and 4 percent, respectively. Strawberries showed an increase of 12 percent.
The 1999 U.S. nut production (in-shell basis) increased 38 percent to 1.25 million tons. Pistachios, at 123 million pounds, and Macadamias, at 53.0 million pounds, decreased by 35 and 8 percent, respectively. Pecan production was estimated at 342 million pounds, up 133 percent from the previous year. Hazelnut production, at 38,000 tons, increased by 145 percent. Almond production was set at 830
million pounds, up 60 percent from a year ago. Walnut production, at 283,000 tons, increased 25 percent from last year. Alternate bearing cycles werethe primary causes of the increases.
The 1999 U.S. value of utilized nut production increased 9 percent to 1.49 billion dollars. Almonds accounted for 677 million dollars, down 4 percent. Pecan value, at 284 million dollars, increased 60 percent. Pistachios were valued at 161 million dollars, down 17 percent from a year ago. Macadamias, at 35.5 million dollars, were off 5 percent, but hazelnuts, at 33.5 million dollars, more than doubled in value from last year.
There were over 2.19 million U.S. farms in 1999, up fractionally from 1998. The average farm size decreased to 432 acres. Land in farms declined slightly to 947 million acres. Farms with annual sales of over $100,000 accounted for 15.9 percent of all farms and for 55.5 percent of land in farms, averaging 1,488 acres.
The U.S. farm real estate value, including all land and buildings, averaged $1,050 per acre on January 1, 2000, up 2.9 percent from January 1, 1999. The $30 per acre increase continued the climb that began in 1987. However, the 2.9 percent increase is the smallest percentage gain since 1992. The overall increase was slowed by cropland values which rose only 2.1 percent during 1999 to a value of $1,440 per acre. Pasture average value per acre for the U.S. increased $14, with most States going up. During the 1990's the U.S. average farm real estate value increased 65 percent for an average of 6.5 percent a year.
U.S. cash receipts from farm marketings totaled 196.8 billion in 1998, down 5.2 percent from the record $207.6 billion in 1997. Crop cash receipts, at $102.2 billion, were down 8.0 percent while livestock receipts, at $94.5 billion, were down 2.1 percent. California led in cash receipts at $24.6 billion, followed by Texas at $13.2 billion, Iowa at $11.0 billion, and Nebraska at $8.8 billion.
Prices Received Down and Prices Paid Unchanged
Average prices received by farmers for all farm products in 1999 were down 5.9 percent, with crop prices down 9.4 percent, largely due to substantial declines in soybeans, cotton, and grains. Livestock prices overall were down 2.1 percent from 1998 with meat animal price gains nearly offsetting losses in dairy and poultry. Overall the prices paid by farmers index was 115 (1990-92=100) in 1999, unchanged for 1998. The Prices paid index by crop farmers rose 0.8 percent to 119, but prices paid by livestock farmers remained unchanged at 112.
Ranchers in the 17 Western States paid monthly fees for grazing livestock on private non-irrigated grazing lands averaging $11.10 per animal unit month, down 2.6 percent from 1998. Overall farm production expenditures rose 0.2 percent in 1998. U.S. annual average all hired wage rate rose to $7.77 per hour in 1999, up from $7.47 in 1998.
Cotton exports for crop year 1999 are expected
to jump 50 percent and soybeans exports are expected to rise 14 percent. Wheat
exports for expected to be up 1 percent and rice up 2 percent. Corn exports
for the 1999 crop are expected to be down 2 percent. Red meat exports for calendar
year 2000 are expected to be up 1 percent and poultry exports are expected to
be up 2 percent.
The inventory of all cattle and calves on hand January 1, 2000 was 98.0 million head, down 1 percent from the previous year. All inventory classes except milk cows, bulls, and all cattle and calves on feed posted declines from a year earlier. Milk replacement heifers and calves under 500 pounds, at 97 percent of the previous year, posted the largest decline. The 1999 calf crop of 38.7 million head was slightly lower than a year earlier. The lower inventory continues the downward trend in the cattle cycle. Reduced numbers of cows, calves, and replacement heifers indicate that this pattern should continue. The number of operations with cattle during 1999 was 1.1 million, down 2 percent from 1998.
On January 1, 2000 the inventory of cattle on feed in the U.S. totaled 14.0 million head, up 6 percent from the previous year. For feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head, inventories increased 8 percent. With an inventory of 11.5 million head, these feedlots account for 82 percent of the U.S. total. Fed cattle marketings from these feedlots totaled 23.5 million head.
Commercial beef production for 1999 totaled 26.5 billion pounds, up 3 percent from the previous year.
U.S. milk production increased 3 percent to 162.7 billion pounds in 1999. Milk cow numbers were virtually unchanged from a year ago, while production per cow increased 3 percent. The number of operations with milk cows during 1999 fell to 111,220, down 5 percent from a year earlier. Operations with fewer than 200 head declined while those with 200 or more head increased. The larger operations continued to increase their share of production, with the biggest gain for operations with 500 or more head.
The inventory of all hogs and pigs on December 1, 1999 was 59.5 million head, down 4 percent from the previous year. The inventory of breeding animals, was down 7 percent from 1998. Sows farrowed during 1999 decreased 3 percent from a year earlier, while the pig crop dropped 2 percent. The average pigs saved per litter increased slightly during 1999 compared with a year earlier. The number of operations with hogs has fallen steadily since 1980 and was down to 98,460 operations in 1999. The share of inventory held by larger operations continues to increase; in 1999 the 7,125 operations with 2,000 or more hogs held 69 percent of the inventory, compared to 6,670 operations with 64 percent of the inventory a year earlier. Commercial pork production totaled 19.3 billion pounds in 1999, up 2 percent from the previous year. Number of head slaughtered increased 1 percent while the average dressed weight per animal was up 2 pounds.
The combined value of production from broilers, eggs, and turkeys plus the value of sales from chickens in 1999 was $22.4 billion, up slightly from the $22.3 billion in 1998. Of the combined total, 68 percent was from broilers, 19 percent from eggs, 13 percent from turkeys, and less than 1 percent from other chickens. The value of broilers produced during 1999 was $15.1 billion, down slightly from 1998. The number of broilers produced has increased each year for the past 24 years; the 8.15 billion produced in 1999 was up 3 percent from 1998. The total live weight of broilers produced in 1999 was 40.8 billion pounds, up 6 percent from 1998. The average live weight per broiler increased to 5.01 pounds per bird in 1999.
The value of turkeys produced during 1999 was $2.84 billion, up 6 percent from $2.68 billion the previous year. Turkey production totaled 6.95 billion pounds live weight, compared with 7.05 billion pounds in 1998. The average price received by producers during 1999 was 40.8 cents per pound, compared with 38.0 cents in 1998.
The number of chickens on December 1, 1999, (excluding commercial broilers) was 436 million, up 3 percent from 1998. Layers, at 329 million, were up 2 percent from the previous year. The 97.4 million pullets were up 2 percent from the 95.6 million of December 1, 1998. Other chickens showed a 26 percent increase to 9.66 million birds. All chickens were valued at $1.15 billion on December 1, 1999, up 1 percent from a year earlier. Average value decreased from $2.69 to $2.65 per bird.
Egg production during the year ending November 30, 1999, was 82.7 billion eggs, up 4 percent from the 79.8 billion eggs in 1998. Layer numbers during 1999 averaged 322 million, up 3 percent from the year earlier. The annual average production per layer on hand in 1999 was 257 eggs, compared with the 1998 average of 256 eggs per layer.
For trout growers in the 20 selected states, value of sales, including eggs, was $76.9 million during 1999, up 4 percent from the 74.0 million during 1998. Growers in the 20 selected states sold a total of 60.3 million pounds of trout measuring 12 inches or longer.
Catfish growers in the 13 selected states had sales of $488 million during 1999. These sales were up 3 percent from the 1998 total of $475 million. Sales of foodsize fish totaled $464 million, up 4 percent from the $445 million in 1998. Sales of stockers totaled $3.64 million, down 54 percent from the $7.89 million in 1998. Catfish water acres increased 5 percent from January 1, 1999, to 189 thousand on January 1, 2000.
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