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FARM BUREAU: FARMER SURVEY RESPONSE DECLINE A GROWING PROBLEM
Jul. 28, 2025
by Bernt Nelson, Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation
Washington, DC -- Countless stakeholders including farmers, university Extension services, researchers and policymakers rely on the data USDA has collected for more than 150 years through agencies and programs including the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS).
An important element of research, price discovery and market integrity, good data is a critical part of a robust, well-functioning agricultural economy. USDA is considered the gold standard for data collection globally but decreasing responses to USDA's farmer surveys is putting the integrity of this data at risk.
This Market Intel will evaluate the changes in response rates over time for several key surveys, with a focus on three NASS examples: the Crop Production Annual Summaries report, the March Cattle On Feed report and the November Farm Labor Survey.
It's All About Data
Paid for by tax dollars, USDA's data and reports are available to a massive number of public and private stakeholders.
USDA collects data in a variety of ways. For example, USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) relies on producer-reported data during enrollment for programs such as Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage. Other agencies, such as NASS, often rely on data collected through various surveys including USDA's Census of Agriculture, which occurs every five years. NASS alone conducts hundreds of surveys every year, ranging from county-level production to cattle on feed.
To read the report including response rates click here.
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