By Alex Minchenkov
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) today released the 2012 Census of Agriculture Congressional District Profiles for the 113th Congress. NASS conducts the Agriculture Census once every five years.
“The congressional district profiles paint a picture of agriculture at the local level by providing data on farms and ranches and the people who operate them in each district,” said NASS Administrator Joseph T. Reilly. “As congressional leaders leave the nation’s capital and head home to their districts for summer recess, this information serves as a timely data tool to help them assess agriculture and rural community issues in their area.”
A variety of data points are published in the congressional district profiles including:
- Number of farms, land in farms, average size of farm
- Market value of products sold, average per farm
- Crop sales, livestock sales
- Government payments, average per farm receiving payments
- Value of sales by commodity group
- Top crop and livestock items
- Economic characteristics
- Operator characteristics
The congressional district profiles continue the series of products NASS has published following the May release of the 2012 Census of Agriculture results. NASS will release new products throughout the year to highlight census data on the more than 3.2 million U.S. farmers providing food, fuel, feed and fiber to the world.
“NASS is committed to providing timely, accurate and useful statistics and part of that is ensuring that data are available to leaders to make informed policy decisions on behalf of the constituents they represent in their districts,” said Reilly. “Coming up in August, we plan to publish the 2012 American Indian Reservations report and the 2012 Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Profiles, which will provide even more information for policymakers and advocates.”
Source:usda.gov