Precise Estimates of the Number of Farms in the United States

• Activity Number: 489
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: ENAR
• Author(s): Linda J. Young*+ and Denise Alexandra Abreu and Pam Arroway and Andrea C. Lamas and Kenneth K. Lopiano
• Companies: University of Florida and National Agricultural Statistics Service and North Carolina State University and National Agricultural Statistics Service and University of Florida
• Keywords: survey ; misclassification ; undercount ; non-response

Abstract

Each June, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) provides an estimate of the number of farms in the United States, based primarily on the June Area Survey (JAS). Every 5 years, another indication (preliminary estimate) of the number of farms is obtained from the Census of Agriculture. In 2007, the indications from the JAS and the census were too far apart to be attributed entirely to chance. Initial reviews indicated that the differences were primarily a consequence of an undercount of small farms, especially those with minority owners. Using information from the 2007 Census and from the 2009 Farm Numbers Research Project (FNRP), misclassification in the JAS was determined to be a source of the undercount. An additional source is the treatment of incomplete responses. Possible revisions to the methodology of the JAS survey are suggested.