Posted Nov. 19, 2012
During the first two weeks of December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will ask producers to report their harvested acres, yield, on-farm stored grain, and hog inventory.
Current forecasts indicate that corn and soybean yields in Iowa are extremely variable this year due to the drought. Now with harvest complete, NASS is contacting more than 14,000 producers across Iowa by mail, telephone or personal interview and asking them to provide information on their 2012 crop production and end-of-year grain inventories.
Given the yield variability this year, it is more important than ever for selected producers to participate and make sure the impact of extreme weather throughout the state is accurately reflected.
Crop data is used by producers to finalize their cropping and marketing plans; by agribusinesses to evaluate export potential and promote the U.S. as a reliable supplier on the world markets, and to make the trend-adjusted yield endorsement available to you when purchasing your crop insurance.
NASS also will be contacting pork producers to determine how farrowing and hog inventory were affected by high feed costs and the hot summer weather. This report will be anxiously awaited by all of the U.S. pork industry who depend on this timely, accurate data to help make sound business decisions.
As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is protected by law. NASS safeguards the confidentiality of all responses and publishes only aggregate-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.
The state-level data will be published on Jan. 11, 2013, in the annual Crop Production summary and quarterly Grain Stocks report while the district- and county-level corn and soybean data will be released on Feb. 21, 2013. The quarterly Hogs and Pigs report will be published Dec. 28, 2012. All reports will be available at www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS reports, call the NASS Iowa Field Office at (800) 772-0825.