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Surveys gauging farmers' economic well-being

Posted January 09, 2008 10:00 pm

Time Landis

One survey is just coming in, while another is about to go out for farmers.

The federal government is wrapping up a nationwide Census of Agriculture taken every five years and is about to begin an annual survey of 33,500 farmers nationwide on their economic well-being, including 1,400 in Illinois.

"Illinois is one of the big five states," said Mark Schleusener, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Illinois field office in Springfield.

Schleusener said this week farmers will receive the annual "agricultural resource management survey" between Jan. 28 and April 29. Some farmers also will be contacted for in-person interviews.

Results are to be released in August.

Schleusener said data on farming expenses, production costs, income and household characteristics will become the basis for a variety of federal farm programs and policies.

"A member of Congress may want to know the number of farms, is income up or down, or is a policy going to hurt farmers in my district. It becomes a real good resource," said Schleusener, who added that the data is confidential.

All indications have been that 2007 was one of the best years in decades for grain farmers, thanks primarily to historically high prices for corn and soybeans driven by demand for alternative fuels and exports.

In contrast, a University of Illinois report released this week said high feed prices and a surplus of hogs could make 2008 the worst year in more than a decade for pork producers.

About 2 million of 3.1 million surveys have been return as part of the national ag census begun in late December. The deadline for returning forms is Feb. 4.

"We are still sorting through them, so it's kind of hard to judge the response," said Ellen Dougherty, spokeswoman for the USDA in Washington, D.C. Preliminary results are scheduled for release by the end of February.

Schleusener said the annual economic survey is voluntary, but the USDA seeks a response rate of at least 80 percent. However, farmers are often as reluctant as anyone to respond to federal surveys.

"The farmers don't really want to talk about what they sold their crops for," he said.

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536.

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