357 – Issues in Survey Design and Estimation
Assessment of a Review Process for the 2017 Census of Agriculture
Denise A. Abreu
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Linda A. Lawson
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Sonia Hickman
National Agricultural Statistics Service
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts a Census of Agriculture every 5 years, in years ending in 2 and 7. The Census uses a list frame. The 2017 Census used capture-recapture methods produce published estimates. NASS's June Area Survey (JAS) was used as the independent survey in the capture-recapture framework. The JAS uses an area frame and tracts of land are classified as agricultural or non-agricultural based on the agricultural activity of the area. Capture-recapture requires a matched dataset consisting of all matches of a Census record to a JAS record. The matching is performed using probabilistic record linkage. Good quality names and addresses (N&A) on both sources is important to the accuracy of the matching. In recent years, NASS has devoted significant resources to train field interviewers to collect complete N&A information on the JAS non-agricultural tracts. Both in the 2012 and 2017 Censuses, an extensive review of a subset of the non-agricultural tracts was conducted prior to matching. These reviews were costly and demanded several months of agency's resources. This paper assesses whether the 2017 review process is essential to the Census.