USDA to measure nutrient management practices of Illinois farmers

[December 15, 2018]    Farmers should expect a survey in the mail in early 2019, as the United States Department of Agriculture works to measure nutrient management practices.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct a survey of Illinois farmers for the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC) in early 2019. The survey will measure a number of management practices, including use of cover crops, timing of fertilizer applications, and methods of determining nitrogen application rates. In addition, the survey will measure edge of field practices including wood chip bioreactors, constructed wetlands, and saturated buffers.

“We will mail more than 1,000 questionnaires to producers right after January 1, and I encourage everyone to respond using the postage-paid envelope that we provide. That is the best way to save taxpayer dollars and still gather information from the best source possible, the farmers themselves,” said Mark Schleusener, the Illinois State Statistician for NASS.

Mr. Schleusener continued, “Every individual report is confidential by law and is also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. NASS will only publish and share state totals and averages, never individual farm data.”

One month after the first mailing, NASS will mail another correspondence to producers who have not yet responded. Finally, NASS will use its St. Louis calling center to call those who do not respond to either mailing. “Our goal is to get the highest response we can and still stay under budget,” said Schleusener.
 

Results from the survey will be published in August 2019.

For more information, contact the NASS Heartland Regional Field Office at 800-551-1014.

[U.S. Department of Agriculture]