USDA To Conduct Study About Agricultural Producers

Dec 20, 2021

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is conducting the 2021 Farm Producer Study to improve knowledge and understanding of agricultural producers and help USDA improve services to them. A brief questionnaire will mail this month to approximately 75,000 U.S. agricultural producers across the country. Taking no more than 10 minutes to complete, the questionnaire asks participants for demographic and basic farm information. Producers can respond securely online at www.agcounts.usda.gov or by mail. The deadline for response is Jan. 18, 2022.

“Participation in this study is voluntary yet vital,” said Census and Survey Division Director Barbara Rater. “The results of the study may lead to more robust demographic data products to assist other federal agencies, state and local governments, researchers, and analysts in administering and monitoring program effectiveness for the optimal support of diversity within American agriculture.”

NASS conducts studies like this to determine what questions to incorporate in future censuses and surveys. This study includes questions about race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status. By responding, farmers help paint a more complete picture of who they are and ensure agriculture in America is reflected as accurately as possible to meet the needs of all our producers. Study results will be posted on the NASS website as a research report in the Education and Outreach section next year. No official estimates will be published from this study.

Source : usda.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.