United States

Department of

Agriculture

National

Agricultural

Statistics

Service

Agricultural

Statistics

Board

Washington, 

D.C. 20250

July, 2015

2015

Fruit

Chemical

Use

Survey

Interviewer’s Manual
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Contents

Chapter 1 General ....................................................................................................................... 101

Background, Objectives, and Purpose ........................................................................................ 101

Publication of FCUS Data .......................................................................................................... 103

Questions and Answers............................................................................................................... 104

Chapter 2 - Terms and Definitions.............................................................................................. 201

Chapter 3 - Survey Procedures.................................................................................................... 301

General........................................................................................................................................ 301

Supplies and Materials................................................................................................................ 301

Interviewing ................................................................................................................................ 302

Enumeration................................................................................................................................ 303

Recording Data ........................................................................................................................... 303

Completing the Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 304

Burden Statement........................................................................................................................ 304

Making An Appointment ............................................................................................................ 304

Call Back Procedures.................................................................................................................. 305

Supervision ................................................................................................................................. 306

Completed Questionnaires.......................................................................................................... 306

Questionnaire Versions............................................................................................................... 306

Introduction................................................................................................................................. 401

Face Page .................................................................................................................................... 402

Item 1 - Presence of Agriculture ............................................................................................ 402

(1) During 2015, were any crops (including new plantings), livestock or poultry on the total 

acres operated? (Exclude crops produced by a tenant if (target) operator is landlord only) . . . . . 

. . . . . ........................................................................................................................................... 402

Item 2 - Sale of Products or Receipt of Payments ............................................................. 403

(2) During 2015, did this operation sell any agricultural products or receive government 

agricultural payments? (Exclude crops produced by a tenant if (target) operator is landlord 

only.) 403

Item 3 - Crops Stored .............................................................................................................. 403

(3) During 2015, were any crops stored on the total acres .................................................... 403

Item 4 - Fruit Acres Operated by a Management Firm ...................................................... 403

(4) During 2015, did this operation have any fruit acres which ............................................ 403

Change in Operator..................................................................................................................... 404

Screening..................................................................................................................................... 405

Item 1 - Target Fruit Crops Grown by Operation ................................................................ 405

Item 2 - Who Makes Day-to-Day Decisions............................................................................... 405

Item 3 - Number of Partners................................................................................................... 405

Item 4 - Verify or Add Partners in the Operation................................................................. 406

Item 3 - Screening for Additional ID’s ................................................................................... 407
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Item 4 - Fruit Management Company to Care for Fruit Crops.......................................... 408

Section A - Land Operated.......................................................................................................... 501

Item 1a - Acres Owned ........................................................................................................... 502

Item 1b - Acres Rented From Others.................................................................................... 503

Item 1c - Acres Rented To Others............................................................................................... 504

Item 2 - Total Acres in Operation .......................................................................................... 505

Item 3 - Total Cropland Acres ................................................................................................ 505

1) Land in crop-pasture rotation and cropland used for pasture or grazing during the current 

year. 505

2) Land in summer fallow. ................................................................................................... 505

3) Idle cropland (no crops planted or harvested in current year).......................................... 505

4) Cropland diverted for government programs (including CRP), unless the land is planted in 

trees. 505

5) Fruit orchards, vineyards, nut trees, and citrus groves..................................................... 505

6) Vegetables, melon crops, and other specialty foods. ....................................................... 505

7) Nursery crops, turf grass, sod, and Christmas trees. ........................................................ 505

8) Land in hay crops, excluding wild hay. ........................................................................... 505

9) Pasture land tilled in the past if the land could be tilled again without first clearing brush, 

trees, undergrowth, etc................................................................................................................ 505

(1) Permanent pasture and rangeland that has never been tilled............................................ 506

(2) Wild hay land. Although wild hay is considered a crop, wild grasses cut for hay should not 

be included in acres of cropland. ................................................................................................ 506

(3) Government program acres planted to trees. These acres are woodland. ........................ 506

(4) Woodland and wasteland. ................................................................................................ 506

Item 4 - Total Fruit Acres ........................................................................................................ 506

(1) All BEARING and NON-BEARING acreage in trees, vineyards, and bushes. ............ 506

(2) All TARGET and NON-TARGET acreage in trees, vineyards, and bushes................. 506

(1) Abandoned orchards and vineyards. ................................................................................ 506

(2) Acres planted to strawberries........................................................................................... 506

Target Fruit Acreage Table..................................................................................................... 509

Fruit Acreage Supplements.................................................................................................... 511

General ...................................................................................................................................... 512

Item 1 Fertilizer Application Table......................................................................................... 512

Fertilizer Supplement............................................................................................................... 517

Section D - Pesticide Applications (Except California Version)................................................ 518

Pesticide Screening Questions.............................................................................................. 518

Use of the Respondent Booklet................................................................................................... 521

Pesticide Applications Table .................................................................................................. 522

Information for Unlisted Pesticides........................................................................................ 523

Pesticide Applications Supplements..................................................................................... 532

Section E - Pest Management Practices...................................................................................... 533

What is this Section for? How is the Information Used?........................................................... 533
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 Be an alternative to pesticide use;.................................................................................... 533

 Reduce the number of pesticide applications needed; ..................................................... 533

 Reduce the toxicity of the pesticides used by producers;................................................. 533

 Improve the effectiveness of the pesticides applied......................................................... 533

Introduction and Definition of Pests ...................................................................................... 533

Section F – Microbial Food Safety Practices.............................................................................. 540

What is this Section for?............................................................................................................. 540

Conclusion - Back Cover............................................................................................................ 557

Survey Results.......................................................................................................................... 557

Ending Time.............................................................................................................................. 557

Record Use ............................................................................................................................... 557

Supplement Use....................................................................................................................... 558

Response Codes...................................................................................................................... 558

Respondent Codes .................................................................................................................. 558

Mode Codes.............................................................................................................................. 558

Enumerator................................................................................................................................ 559

Date............................................................................................................................................ 559

Final Review.............................................................................................................................. 559
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Chapter 1 General

Background, Objectives, and Purpose

Fertilizer Applications, Pesticide Applications, and Pest 

Control

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) can trace the beginning 

of its environmental data program to 1964 when enumerators collected 

fertilizer application data from fields selected for objective yield (OY) 

measurement. During the late 1980's, rising concern about pesticide and plant 

nutrient levels in well water spurred Congress to fund an initiative to enhance 

water quality, but data needed for assessing the scope of these issues was 

scarce. This Water Quality Initiative mandated the development of a 

comprehensive database describing the nature of agricultural chemical use in 

the United States.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was designated the lead agency 

for this endeavor and development became the responsibility of NASS and 

the Economic Research Service (ERS). The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were also given 

responsibilities under the Water Quality Initiative. As a result, NASS has 

been collecting agricultural chemical use data for fertilizer and pesticides on 

major field crops and selected fruits, vegetables, melons and strawberries 

since 1990. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Human Nutrition 

Information Service (HNIS), and the Office of Pest Management Policy 

(OPMP), other USDA agencies, also collect and analyze agricultural 

chemical use and residue data. The aggregation of these data form the basis of

the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP).

In 1996, the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) 

required the EPA to conduct a review of tolerance levels for re-registration of 

pesticide products. An interdepartmental working group consisting of 

members from NASS, AMS, EPA, HNIS, and OPMP meets regularly to 

coordinate USDA pesticide data collection as required by the FQPA. The 

PDP continues to be used by these agencies to evaluate the safety of the 

nation's food supply, potential human exposure to pesticide residues, and 

water quality issues.
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Generally, farmers benefit from NASS chemical use data indirectly. They see 

the information through contact with extension advisors, in reports issued by 

colleges and universities, and in farm magazines or newspapers. Most 

respondents probably do not realize the data comes from this survey. The 

most direct user of this data is the EPA.

Fruit growers have a vested interest in EPA’s re-registration review because 

many pesticides they rely on are classified as Aminor use. Growers often 

have no alternatives to these chemicals. If re-registration is not allowed on 

products used on specialty crops, such an action could have serious 

consequences for both farmers and consumers.

EPA’s risk analyses require the use of actual chemical application rates. Only 

the grower can provide these data. If these data are not available, EPA 

assumes maximum label rates were applied on all crop acreage resulting in an 

over count of the true amount of pesticides being used. This could more than 

likely result in cancellation of product registrations and could have serious 

consequences in cases where growers have no alternative chemicals. NASS 

survey results typically show that producers are using far less than maximum 

recommended label rates allow. Charts showing this difference have been 

created for your use in promoting the benefits of this survey. 

The important benefits gained from responding to the survey are:

 - Growers have a chance to tell how they use chemicals responsibly to 

maintain a safe and abundant food supply.

 - The survey results are official USDA estimates and help to establish 

the facts about chemical use. Accurate data can be used to lessen concern 

relating to marketing and exports to other countries.

 - Accurate and timely information on actual usage can be used in the 

decision making process for product registration, re-registration and product 

alternatives.

Microbial Food Safety Practices

The Economic Research Service is also partnering with NASS this year for 

the Fruit Chemical Use Survey. In January 2011, the Food Safety 

Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law. This law takes a risk-based 

approach to preventing foodborne illness by reducing microbial 

contamination of food products, including produce. FSMA affects all stages 
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of the food production-to-marketing system including, for the first time, 

regulations for produce growers and produce post-harvest operations. This is 

a major change for the industries. While some produce firms have already 

begun to upgrade food safety practices in response to buyer demands or 

anticipated FSMA requirements, other firms may have to make major 

changes to their operations to come into compliance with FSMA once the 

final rules are established. 

The objective of this survey is to provide unbiased, up-to-date data on 

produce grower and post-harvest food safety practices that will support 

analysis of the impact of FSMA on the U.S. produce industry. Such an 

analysis requires an assessment of where the industry is today in order to 

estimate the impact of future changes. For example, a survey would show 

what firms are already testing water for potential microbial contamination 

and what standard they are testing against. Results can then be used to 

determine what it might cost for others to come into compliance. There is no 

current, nationally representative and unbiased survey focusing on food safety 

practices and the produce industry. The last survey of this type was in 1998 

and the U.S. produce industry has changed dramatically since then. With the 

final FSMA rules still being written, this is an opportunity to get a “preFSMA” look at produce food safety practices, including those that may 

already exceed FSMA requirements before the rules must be implemented.

We are conducting two related surveys. Questions for growers will be added 

to the NASS Chemical Use surveys in 2015 (fruit) and 2016 (vegetables). A 

separate NASS survey for post-harvest practices will be enumerated in 2015 

for all produce. Survey responses will provide information on food safety 

practices and some food safety costs.

Publication of FCUS Data

The NASS release, Agricultural Chemical Usage - Fruit Summary, will highlight key 

elements about the acreage treated with herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and other 

pesticides for each crop surveyed by participating States. The complete tables will be 

available only by on-line query of the Quick Stats database. Each chemical product 

is classified by its active ingredient. The results from the 2015 FCUS will be 

published on July 25, 2016.

All NASS reports are available on the Internet at: http://www.nass.usda.gov

NASS will provide USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) with the data about 

microbial food safety from this survey for research only but without any information 
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that could identify a particular operation. ERS will publish results only in aggregate 

form, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified. 

Questions and Answers

Below are some common questions and answers pertaining to the USDA Pesticide 

Data Program. Enumerators should become familiar with them and be prepared to 

answer questions the farm operator may have about the survey.

1. Why do we need fruit chemical use data?

When chemical usage data are not available, EPA and other organizations 

have to determine usage on their own. Usually they use maximum label rates 

and total acres of commodity. This could bias the risk assessment and thus 

overstate actual usage, ultimately causing cancellation of these important 

pesticides. The Agricultural industry needs to tell their own story and here is 

a chance to give EPA actual usage statistics. Summarized data from the 

survey will be supplied to the EPA, as well as many other organizations. The 

use of this information will be determined by each recipient. However, 

confidentiality of individual reports will be maintained.

2. Who uses the information produced from this program?

Recipients include growers, the public, news media, processors, foreign 

buyers of commodities, several USDA agencies, and regulatory agencies such 

as the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, 

confidentiality of individual reports will be maintained.

3. What agricultural chemicals will be included in NASS's survey?

Included are all pesticides used in growing fruit, vegetables, melons, 

strawberries and other food crops. This year, fruit will be surveyed. Fertilizer 

data is collected every other survey cycle. For the 2015 growing season, we 

will collect and publish fertilizer data.

4. What coordination has taken place between USDA, EPA, and FDA 

regarding this program?

Coordination has occurred at the highest levels within each of these agencies. 

Staff from all Departments have met regularly to discuss FQPA’s data needs 

and data collection priorities while trying to reduce respondent burden and 

avoid duplicating efforts. An interdepartmental working group, which 

consists of a representative from NASS, ERS, EPA, OPMP, and AMS, meets 

regularly to discuss the nation’s pesticide issues. This group helps set a 

coordinated USDA pesticide data collection policy.
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5. Why are pesticides used on food crops and livestock?

They decrease losses in yield and/or quality by controlling insects, weeds, 

diseases, and other pests. Pesticides also protect livestock and poultry from 

insects and other pests. Harvest aids are used to regulate growth or cause fruit 

to ripen more uniformly.

6. How many pesticides are used on foods?

More than 21,000 pesticide products are on the market. About 500 chemical 

compounds make up the active ingredients. EPA has approved 350 

compounds for food uses; 200 of which account for 98 percent of the 

pesticides currently applied to agricultural products. The balance is used in 

non-food applications, such as disinfectants and termite and rodent control.

7. Why is there concern over the safety of pesticides?

The past four decades have seen a remarkable scientific revolution in 

agriculture with chemical technology playing a crucial role in this revolution. 

This chemical revolution has produced fundamental changes in major 

sections of the U.S. economy, including agriculture and food processing. It 

has also brought significant benefits to the American consumer with an 

abundant, low-cost, and high quality food supply. Since the publication of 

Silent Spring (Carson, 1962), the public has been greatly concerned about the 

presence of chemicals in their environment and food supply.

Public concern over pesticides was evident in the 1989 survey of consumers 

conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for Food Marketing Institute 

(FMI): "Trends: Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket." Three-quarters of 

those polled considered pesticides a serious hazard. The need exists to 

provide an ongoing statistically based monitoring program for on-farm 

chemical use, and how it affects fruits in the marketplace. There is also a 

need to communicate and educate consumers about the public health 

significance of detected chemicals. This chemical use survey helps regulators 

make good decisions from sound science concerning public health.

8. Are pesticides carcinogenic?

The relationship between cancer and exposure to pesticides is an issue with 

many unanswered questions. Nevertheless, grounds for concern remain 

because many pesticides have been found to cause cancer in laboratory 

animals. EPA has banned or significantly reduced the tolerance level for 

pesticides suspected of being harmful to human health.
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Today we are able to detect chemical contaminants at levels many times 

lower than those we could detect 10 years ago. Determining a substance's safe 

level is guaranteed to open a controversy when the scientific community 

cannot agree on the data for low level or long term risks. Risk calculations are

based on maximum tolerance concentration, not on actual exposure. A safety 

margin of at least a factor of 100 is built into the overall calculation. Some 

risk, however small, is posed by any commodity, regardless of how it is 

produced, marketed, or prepared.

9. How are pesticides regulated to safeguard consumers?

State and Federal governments regulate pesticides while looking to the 

scientific community for guidance on health and safety concerns. The Federal 

government takes the lead by approving pesticides and setting standards for 

their use. States have the option of regulating them in a stricter fashion.

Essentially, pesticides are regulated in three ways:

- Research is conducted on the safety of pesticides to determine how 

exposure to residues may affect health. For individual pesticides, 

human health risk assessments are conducted to ensure that their use 

does not pose unreasonable risks to human health. Only after 

extensive review of scientific test data can pesticides be registered for 

use on food crops.

- Both domestic and imported food products are tested for pesticide 

residues that exceed the safe tolerance levels.

- Action is taken to remove from the market any food products with 

unsafe levels and to penalize the parties responsible.

10. Why is the Microbial Food Safety Practices Section important?

The U.S. is implementing the most sweeping changes to food safety 

legislation in more than 70 years. The Food Safety Modernization Act 

(FSMA) affects all stages of the food production-to-marketing system 

and there is little information about current practices of produce postharvest operations which may face major changes under FSMA. 

A critical issue that has been raised with respect to the FSMA rules is

the overlap of the Produce rule (focused on produce growers) and 

the Preventive Controls rule (focused on firms that manufacture, 

process, pack or hold human food). In response to comments on the 

original draft rules, adjustments were made in supplemental draft 
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rules to address some of these concerns, but there remains very little 

information on how many and what kinds of post-harvest activities 

take place on produce farms or in separate firms. For example, there 

is no information on the extent to which produce is packed on the 

farm versus at other sites. 

11. Who will use the information produced from Food Safety Practice 

Section?

The information from these surveys will be widely used. USDA’s

Economic Research Service (ERS) will analyze the data to 

understand the impact of FSMA on produce grower and post-harvest 

operations. The data will document pre-FSMA food safety practices 

and will allow assessment of what segments of the industry may face

greater costs of implementing additional food safety practices. 

Depending on response rates, ERS will compare food safety practices 

for different size farms or post-harvest operations. Results provide a 

baseline for eventual assessment of the impact of FSMA. NASS will 

provide ERS with data from the produce surveys for research but 

without any information that could identify a particular operation. ERS 

will publish results only in aggregate form, ensuring that no individual 

producer or operation can be identified. 

In-depth case studies of selected fresh produce supply chains will 

supplement the survey data to identify farm-to-retail factors that will 

influence FSMA economic outcomes. The research will examine the 

effects of FSMA across fresh produce supply chains. 

Information about food safety practices of U.S. produce growers and 

packers collected through nationally representative surveys will 

provide USDA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the 

produce industry data that they may use to help target training to firms 

to assist them to come into compliance with FSMA. 

Survey results will provide FDA with information that could be used to 

guide future rulemaking. While the FSMA Produce rule and 

Preventive Controls rule (among others) are well along in the 

rulemaking process, guidance documents and implementation 

strategies continue to be developed.

Produce growers and post-harvest operations, as well as 

organizations that support them, could use survey information to 

develop strategies for member support and educational programs.
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Results from these surveys will help ensure that policymakers, 

organizations and businesses have up-to-date information to make 

informed decisions that affect the U.S. produce industries. Better 

data can produce better policies.

12. What effects will Microbial Food Safety Practices Section have 

on the produce industry?

Several major FSMA rules which will affect produce will already be 

finalized in the fall of 2015 although the industry will still have some 

time to comply. Numerous guidance and training documents will 

remain to be developed. The survey results may help both the 

produce industry and FDA craft these guidance documents with 

respect to the actual current state of affairs in the produce industry. 

For example, the available information and science was not sufficient 

to determine an appropriate policy with respect to manure use. As a 

result, guidance is still being evaluated and will come out separately 

from the FSMA Produce Rule. 

It is important to measure and document the state of food safety 

already in place for U.S. produce to help ensure that policymakers, 

organizations and businesses have up-to-date information to make 

informed decisions that affect the produce industry. Data on the 

extent and diversity of current practices are limited with the last 

nationally representative and unbiased data collected in 1998. The 

U.S. produce industry has changed dramatically since then.

A baseline of where the industry is before FSMA is implemented will 

document practices that are already in place and the growth in 

adoption of these practices since 1998. There are no current statistics 

on use of Good Agricultural Practice (GAPs) or other food safety 

practices in the United States. Growers could adopt higher food safety 

standards to minimize their own business risks, to respond to buyer 

demands, or to participate in industry food safety programs. Those 

who were proactive in adopting food safety practices may not face 

many additional requirements with FSMA; others may face substantial 

new requirements.

Current surveys will provide a benchmark of practices prior to 

implementation of FSMA for comparison purposes. Without 

documented knowledge of where the industry started from it will be 

hard to identify the impact of FSMA. Survey results will provide 

information that could be used to guide future training.
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13. Why is there a concern over food safety?

High‐profile outbreaks of foodborne illness over the last decade have 

led to a widespread recognition that the United States needed a new, 

modern food safety system that prevents food safety problems in the 

first place‐‐not a system that just reacts once outbreaks occur. 

Prior to 1995 microbial food safety problems were most frequently 

associated with livestock. A series of high-profile foodborne illness 

outbreaks in the mid-1990s, traced back to fresh raspberries and 

spring mix, first focused attention on microbial contamination of 

produce. In 1998, FDA published a voluntary guidance document on 

good agricultural practices (GAPs) titled Guide to Minimize Microbial 

Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables to help 

producers reduce the risk of microbial contamination. For fresh and 

fresh-cut produce there is no effective microbial elimination step such 

as pasteurization for milk; as a result, GAPs focus on reducing the 

risk of microbial contamination but do not eliminate the risk. 

Use of GAPs became standard industry procedure for some, but not 

all, growers. In 2004, after more outbreaks, FDA met with the 

produce industry to encourage them to develop voluntary commodityspecific good agricultural practices that targeted specific risk factors 

for individual commodities with a history of problems. 

Despite organized efforts over the last two decades to reduce the risk 

of foodborne illness in produce, the latest research from the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention found that 46 percent of 

foodborne illnesses in the period 1998-2008 were attributed to 

produce (Painter et al, 2013). FSMA is the result of the recognition 

that a mandatory program is required to try to prevent foodborne 

illnesses. 

14. What is FSMA?

FSMA is a law requiring produce growers and postharvest operations, 

among others, to comply with certain food safety standards to reduce 

the risk of microbial contamination that could result in foodborne 

illness and death. The law was passed in 2011 but has not yet been 

implemented; regulations and guidance documents are still being 

written.
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Notes
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Chapter 2 - Terms and Definitions

Enumerators working on the FCUS should be familiar with the definitions of the terms listed below. 

Appendix A of the NASDA Interviewer's Manual provides definitions for most of these terms. Some 

additional definitions follow on the next page.

actual nutrients

active ingredients (AI)

adjuvant

beneficial organism

Bt

Biopesticides

chemigation

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

conservation tillage

contour farming

cover crop

crop dusting

crop insurance

crop rotation

cropland

defoliant

fertilizer

fertilizer analysis

foliar pathogen

fungicide

fumigation

genetically enhanced

growth regulator

harvested acres

herbicide

highly erodible land

host free zone

idle land

insecticide

integrated pest management (IPM)

lime

low input sustainable agric. (LISA)

microbial control

micro-nutrient

miticide

mulching

N-P-K-S

nematicide

nematode

nitrogen (N)

noxious weed

no-till

organic matter

pathogen

pesticide

pheromone

phosphate (P2O5)

plant tissue test

potash (K2O)

residue

scouting

selective herbicide

selective pesticide

soil fumigant

spot treatment

strip cropping

surfactant

sustainable agriculture

sustainable practices

tank mix

thinners

topically applied

trap crop

treated acres

treatment acres

wetting agent
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biopesticides: pesticides derived from natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria, and 

certain minerals. For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal applications and are 

considered biopesticides. 

foliar pathogen: pathogen that occurs on above-ground plant parts

infestation threshold: the level of infestation at which it will pay to make a pesticide application; 

varies widely depending on costs of application and chemical selected, and on projected yields and 

market prices

microbial control: use of microorganisms or their by-products to control pests

nematode: microscopic worm which is parasitic to plants

pathogen: a living disease-causing microorganism, i.e., bacteria, fungi, virus, or mycoplasma 

(Mycoplasma is a living microorganism lacking a true cell wall; some species of which cause plant 

disease.)

soilborne pathogen: a disease-causing organism that is found in the soil or on roots of plants

soilborne pest: includes pathogens as described above and such pests as nematodes, insects or 

weeds

spiral: type of applicator for pesticides normally applied at very low rates which contains a premeasured amount of active ingredient

sustainable agriculture: a system of integrated farming practices designed to minimize the need for 

chemical additives to the soil and crops, and to conserve natural resources

sustainable practices: practices designed to work with the natural biological systems of the farm to 

permit farmers to substantially reduce or eliminate the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and 

other farm inputs

threshold: The level of infestation at which it will pay to make a pesticide application. The threshold 

level varies widely depending on type of plant, costs of application, chemical selected and on 

projected yields and market prices.
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Chapter 3 - Survey Procedures

General

The instructions in this chapter are guidelines for completing the questionnaire and 

turning in completed work. This manual should be studied carefully before beginning 

work and should be used as a reference during the survey. Review the NASDA 

Employee Handbook for other instructions on administrative items, agency goals, etc.

The Fruit Chemical Use Survey does not focus on all fruit crops grown. Information 

will be collected for 23 targeted fruit crops in 12 States. Each State will collect use 

information for only a pre-determined set of targeted fruit in their State.

Enumeration generally begins September 1, 2015 and can extend to January, 2016. 

The data collection period will be dependent on the crop harvesting period and State 

NASDA budget allocations. Enumerators should avoid contacting respondents until 

harvest has been completed or the last chemical applications have been applied to the 

2015 fruit. Please check with your supervisor or State survey administrator for 

appropriate data collection times. The goal here is to obtain the data needed with as 

few trips to the respondent to reduce costs and burden.

Supplies and Materials

Each enumerator should have the following materials before beginning personal 

enumeration:

 (State highway maps.

 County highway maps.

 Clipboard to hold questionnaires.

 Black lead pencils for recording information on questionnaires and a ball 

point pen for completing NAS-011.

 Calculator.

 NASDA Identification Card (NAS-005).

 NASDA Interviewer’s Manual.

 Survey Materials.

 Envelopes containing extra questionnaires for use as needed. Be sure the 

correct identification has been entered on any extra questionnaires used.

 Vegetable Chemical Use Survey Interviewer’s Manual. 

 Respondent Booklets.

 Supplements.
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 Extra pre-survey letter & publicity materials

 An envelope containing the following administrative forms.

 Several copies of NAS-011 (Time, Mileage and Expense Sheet).

 Several envelopes with the State Office address for submitting NAS-011.

Interviewing

Before beginning enumeration, mark a state highway map with the locations of the 

selected samples assigned to you. To locate some sampled operations it may be 

necessary to contact local residents, post offices, Farm Service Agency offices, 

county extension agents, etc. The location of the operator's residence should be 

indicated by a small circle with the I.D. number written beside it. Use this map to 

plan your daily travel. This will make time and mileage use more efficient. Notify 

your Supervisor about all operations that cannot be located.

It is essential you interview the operator or the person designated by the 

operator who will be able to give the "best" information. If that person is not 

available, follow the callback procedures given later in this chapter.

The nature of this Survey dictates that the interviewer and respondent work together 

with the questionnaire and respondent booklet. Encourage the respondent to use farm 

records to complete the questionnaire. The information required will be more 

accurate and take less time to obtain if the respondent has farm records available.

Be prepared on the first visit to make an appointment if the respondent wishes. See 

“Call Back Procedures” on Page 305.
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Enumeration

An operator or operation name, mailing address and I.D. number will be provided to 

you, along with any related information that the Field Office has. A sticker with the 

name and address of the operator will be on the front of the questionnaire. The 

mailing address will be the key to locating operators. The spelling of the name and 

the entire address should be verified during the interview. If an individual name 

is on the label, be sure to obtain any farm, ranch or business arrangement 

names other than that shown on the label.

If the sampled unit operated a farm at any time during 2015, but does not operate a 

farm at the time of the interview, an interview should still be conducted. Data should 

be collected for the time during which this operation was active. If the operation was 

taken over and the new operator did not operate any other fruit acres, that new 

operation can be substituted. More explanation is given in Chapter 4.

Should another visit be necessary and the respondent requests a questionnaire; you 

may give him a spare blank questionnaire. DO NOT give them the labeled 

questionnaire. All labeled questionnaires are your responsibility and must be 

returned to the Regional Office at the end of data collection.

Recording Data

Use a black lead pencil.

Recording data to the appropriate number of decimals is crucial in this survey to 

ensure accuracy. When tenths or hundredths are required, the answer cell will 

contain a decimal point and blanks to indicate how many places to the right of the 

decimal must be recorded. 

Follow skip instructions to avoid asking questions needlessly.

Cells requiring code entries are identified. Write notes in margins or blank spaces to 

describe unusual conditions. Good notes are a big benefit to the office and may help 

the office avoid re-contacting you or the respondent. When marking boxes, it is 

important to keep the mark within the box. Check marks or "X's" that cover many 

boxes can be confusing.
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Completing the Questionnaire

The heading on the first page of each section is CAPITALIZED. Items or questions 

within sections are numeric or a combination of alpha/numeric; for example: 1. d.

Enumerator instructions are italicized and enclosed within brackets, such as [go to 

Section F, item 1]. Bracketed instructions should never be read to the respondent. 

Optional wording is enclosed in parentheses - i.e., the operator (and all partners). 

Additional details about a question, include and exclude instructions, and other points

which may require clarification are italicized and enclosed in parentheses - i.e. 

(include only bearing acres, etc.). These should be read to the respondent when 

necessary. Space is provided in or near sections where it may be necessary to make 

calculations or notes.

Burden Statement

The Paperwork Reduction Act, as administered by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB), requires that all questionnaires used by agencies of the federal 

government include a burden statement with an estimate of the average response 

time. OMB requires that the average response time include refused interviews. OMB 

has the duty of approving and overseeing government data collection efforts. For 

FCUS, the burden statement is printed in the Respondent Booklet and on the last 

page of the questionnaire. Any questions a respondent has about the questionnaire, 

the time required to complete it, the burden statement, or the Paperwork Reduction 

Act should be addressed in writing to OMB.

Respondents often ask, "How long will this take?" Enumerators should note the 

average time requirement in the burden statement and never directly contradict it. 

However, enumerators may provide additional information, such as, "The official 

average for this survey is 60 minutes, but the interviews I have been doing in this area

have been anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes."

Making An Appointment

Many times it is preferable to make an appointment over the phone for a convenient 

time to conduct the interview. This procedure is also economical. However, 

telephoning can provide an easier means for the operator to refuse. Telephoning 

prior to the first visit is left to the discretion of the Survey Statistician and should be 

communicated to you by your supervisor.
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Call Back Procedures

Attempt to contact the operator and complete the interview on the first visit. 

Occasionally the first attempt is unsuccessful and it is necessary to visit again. The 

following instructions should be used as a general guide.

First Visit:

On the first visit try to interview or set up a future appointment with the 

operator. If the operator is not present but is expected shortly, wait for an 

interview. If other contacts need to be made nearby, continue with those and 

return later.

Considering the possible length of the interview, it is advisable to make 

appointments at the operator's convenience and to keep them.

If the operator will not be available until the survey is over, interview a wellinformed person such as a spouse, partner or employee. Be sure they are 

knowledgeable about the farm operation.

Second Visit:

When a second visit is required or an appointment has been made, try to 

interview the operator. If this is not possible, interview a well-informed

person. If neither a well-informed person nor the operator is available, try to 

set up another time when an interview can be completed.

Make every effort to secure the operator's telephone number and to determine 

where and when contact can be made. If the farm operator or some wellinformed person cannot be contacted until after the survey, notify your

supervisor as soon as possible.

Third and Final Visit:

On a third trip, try to interview the operator or a well-informed person. If a 

respondent is not available, explain in notes why an interview was not 

completed. Comments regarding whether the operation is an active farm or a 

non-farm and why the interview was not completed will be needed by your 

Supervisor and the Survey Statistician.
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Supervision

Supervisors will set up appointments to meet with each of their enumerators early in 

the survey. These visits will assist enumerators in getting off to a good start and 

allow supervisors to review completed work. Supervisors will probably instruct 

enumerators to hold their first completed questionnaires until they can be reviewed 

since a respondent may have to be re-contacted to clear up problems.

Completed Questionnaires

Completed questionnaires should be handled according to your supervisor’s 

instructions for this survey. If you are concerned that the last few questionnaires you 

complete might not reach the Regional Office before the final due date, call your 

supervisor or the survey statistician.

Keep a record of when you complete each questionnaire and when you sent it to your 

supervisor or the Regional Field Office. This will help locate the survey materials if 

they are delayed.

Questionnaire Versions

There are two questionnaire versions for this survey: Enterprise and California 

Enterprise.

Sections in these versions are lettered consecutively, A through F, but not every 

version contains every section.
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Chapter 4 - Questionnaire Completion: Face Page, Screening and 

Change In Operation

Introduction

Before you introduce yourself and this survey to an operator, get comfortable with the 

introduction you want to use. Be sure your introduction includes who you are, whom 

you represent and what you want. Remind the respondent that the data are 

confidential and are used only in analysis and to make State and Multi-state 

estimates. You should also mention that farm records are extremely helpful in 

answering the survey questions. Study the information in Chapter 1 of this manual so 

you can answer questions about the survey.

All of the operators you contact should have received a pre-survey letter from the 

Regional Office. Some of them may have heard or read about the survey through presurvey radio, television spots or newspaper or magazine articles.

The primary name on the label can be an individual, partnership, or operation name. 

Labels will be on all questionnaires. You can correct minor name misspellings and 

the address on the label. Restrictions to name changes have loosened since the last 

fruit chem survey but we still need to follow some rules. If the operation on the label 

has changed, this operation will need to follow the rules outlined on pages 404-405.

Beginning Time

Record the beginning time (in military time) of the interview when you begin 

your introduction in item box 004. We need correct beginning and ending 

times to accurately calculate the average interview time for this survey. One 

use of the average interview time is its inclusion in the burden statement. 

OMB requires that the average response time include refused interviews.

For Interviews that require multiple contacts (personal or phone), you should 

write the date and time the interview began in a note on the face page near the 

Beginning Time question. Accumulate the hours and minutes of interview 

time and write the total on the back page near the Ending Time question. This 

will enable the office editor to record the total interview time in the 006 box 

on the back page.

Do not include time spent away from the operator editing or copying 

chemical printouts. This time you are recording here is going to be used to 

measure time burden on the operator and has nothing to do with Enumerator 
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timesheets. 

Face Page

The questions on the face page are to be used in the screening process to find out if 

the operation should be interviewed.

Item 1 - Presence of Agriculture

(1) During 2015, were any crops (including new plantings), livestock or

poultry on the total acres operated? (Exclude crops produced by a tenant if 

(target) operator is landlord only) . . . . . . . . . . . 

Check YES if the operation grew crops or had cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, or 

other livestock on the total acres operated. 

To qualify as growing a crop, the operation must have made the decisions on 

planting, caring for and/or harvesting the crop. Landlords should be excluded 

from this survey. 

INCLUDE as crops: field crops, hay, fruit and nut crops, vegetables, 

mushrooms, flowers, nursery stock, greenhouse crops, etc.

EXCLUDE as crops: home gardens and crops received in 2015 crop 

year as payment for land rented to someone else.

INCLUDE as livestock: all cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, 

ducks, geese, bees, horses, rabbits, mink or other fur bearing animals, fish 

that were raised commercially, and FFA and 4-H livestock projects.

EXCLUDE as livestock: all animals, other than horses, kept for pleasure 

use or as pets.

Livestock dealers or speculators own livestock which have not yet been sold 

for slaughter. Their ownership is usually short-term, but they should be 

handled the same as any other operator.
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Item 2 - Sale of Products or Receipt of Payments

(2) During 2015, did this operation sell any agricultural products or 

receive government agricultural payments? (Exclude crops produced by a 

tenant if (target) operator is landlord only.)

INCLUDE: sales of crops, livestock, poultry, fish and other such 

products from total land operated. Include as government farm payments any 

payments received under various farm programs.

Item 2 should be checked NO when the respondent is a landlord who sold 

agricultural products from, or received government farm payments for land 

rented to another.

Item 3 - Crops Stored

(3) During 2015, were any crops stored on the total acres

operated? (Exclude crops produced by a tenant if (target) operator is

landlord only.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

INCLUDE: all crops in storage on the total acres operated (except those 

produced by a tenant), regardless of ownership.

EXCLUDE: crops produced by a tenant.

Check YES if the operation had grain in storage on the total acres operated

Item 4 - Fruit Acres Operated by a Management Firm

(4) During 2015, did this operation have any fruit acres which

were operated by a management firm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Check YES if any fruit acreage was operated by a management firm, and go 

to item 1 on Page 3.

If items 1 - 4 on the face page are all checked NO, you are instructed to go to 

item 1, Change in Operation, on page 2.
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Change in Operator

Complete this section when all four screening questions on the face page were 

answered NO or if the operation has changed hands. If another operator is now 

operating the land of the operator named on the label, the name, address and phone 

number of the new operator should be recorded here.

This provides the information needed to update the List Frame when operators have 

gone out of business.

There can be substitution for the 2015 survey following the instructions given here.

Substitution Rules

When it is discovered that the operation has changed hands, after recording the name 

and address of the new operator, enumerators will need to determine whether or not the 

new operator qualifies for an interview. 

Substitution Allowed: 

When a new operator is reported during the survey, that new operator should 

complete the questionnaire if the following conditions exist: 

The new operator can report all chemical data for the entire calendar year of 2015. 

AND 

The new operator did not merge or combine the operation on the label with any 

other fruit acres held previously.

Substitution Not Allowed: 

When a new operator is reported during the survey, that new operator should not 

complete the questionnaire if the following conditions exist: 

The new operator had existing fruit acreage and it is being combined with the 

newly acquired acreage under one operation. We do not want this report.

The enumerator note on the change in operator page is to remind the enumerator of 

the special situation. 
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[ENUMERATOR 

NOTE: If the operation on the face page was in business part of the 2015 crop year, 

complete this questionnaire for the part of the year during which the operation did 

business, unless the operation has been taken over by a new operator. If the 

operator has changed midyear, please conduct this interview start to finish with the 

new operator after reading “Valid Substitution” rules in section 4 of the 

Interviewer’s Manual.]

Screening

Item 1 - Target Fruit Crops Grown by Operation

Refer to the list of target crops and codes for your State (page 3 or page 6 for 

California). Make sure that you are familiar with the target fruit crops for your 

State. If the operation had bearing acres of any of the target fruit crops in 2015, 

check YES and continue the screening process. Even if the operator did not 

harvest the target crop(s) due to crop loss, weather, economic or other 

unforeseen conditions, answer this question yes and continue the interview.

If the operation did not have any bearing acres of target fruit crops in 2015, 

check NO and write notes explaining the situation. Again, no screening survey 

was done on the fruit producers. Some of the data on your State’s list frame 

may be outdated and, therefore, we may have sampled some operators who no 

longer grow the target fruit crop(s). In this case, the interview should be 

concluded.

Item 2 - Who Makes Day-to-Day Decisions

This item screens to find out who makes the day-to-day decisions for the 

operation. These decisions may be made by an individual operator, by partners, 

or by a hired manager. Check the box with the appropriate decision maker for 

this operation. If the operation’s day-to-day decisions are made by an individual 

operator or by a hired manager, continue to Section A on page 5. If the 

decisions for the operation are made by partners, go to item 4.

Item 3 - Number of Partners

If partners are recorded in item 3, then in item 4, record the number of partners 

associated with the day-to-day decisions of the operation. Record the number of 
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partners, including the operator, in the box. Do not include landlords and 

tenants as partners.

Item 4 - Verify or Add Partners in the Operation

Operations that are known to be partnerships should have pre-printed labels in 

item 4. Make changes to the labels as needed. If an operation adds a new 

partner, please print the new partner’s name, address, and phone number in the 

box. If a partner is no longer involved in the operation, dash through his or her 

label, and make notes to explain the situation

California Screening (California Version Only)

These additional screening questions are on page 4 of the California Enterprise version 

of the questionnaire.

Item 1 - CAL-EPA Reporting ID

The data collected for each operation in this survey will be matched with 

pesticide use reports which must be filed with the County Agricultural 

Commissioner and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CALEPA), Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). The CAL-EPA ID (pesticide 

permit number) is needed to make that match. Record the ID under which the 

operation makes pesticide use reports to the County Agricultural Commissioner 

for the TOTAL acres reported in Section A, Item 2. The ID may contain both 

letters and numbers. Be very careful when recording this ID.

Item 2 - Additional Operations Reported Under ID

Because a one-to-one match must be made between NASS records and CALEPA, DPR reports, we have to know whether the operation named on the face 

page is the ONLY operation which uses the permit number reported in Item 1 

for making pesticide reports. Usually, only one operation is associated with a 

CAL-EPA ID. If other operations use this ID, check YES, and continue. If NO, 

go to Item 3.

When the CAL-EPA ID is used to report for other operations, you must 

record labeled operation CAL-EPA Site Location (Field Identification) 

Numbers only (on page 7) for all crops listed in column 1 of the Fruit Acreage 

table (on page 6).
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Item 2a - Additional Operation Names

If this ID is used to report for other operations, record their identifying 

information in the space provided.

Item 3 - Screening for Additional ID’s

This question screens for any other ID’s that this operation may use to report 

pesticide applications to the County Agricultural Commissioners. If the 

operation uses more than one CAL-EPA reporting ID, check YES, and 

continue. If NO, go to Item 4.

If the operation uses multiple CAL-EPA ID’s, you must record CAL-EPA 

Site Location (Field Identification) Numbers (on page 7) for all crops listed 

in column 1 of the Fruit Acreage table (on page 6).

Item 3a - Additional ID’s Used

If the operation uses more than one CAL-EPA reporting ID, record these 

additional ID’s to associate the operation with all of its pesticide use during the 

2015 crop year.

Item 3b - Additional Operations Using CAL-EPA ID

As with Item 2a, we need to know if any additional operations are using any of 

the pesticide permit numbers associated with the operation named on the face 

page. If another operation is using one of the other numbers associated with the 

operation on the face page, check YES and continue. If NO, proceed to Item 4.

Item 3b(1) - Additional Operation Names

As with Item 2a, we need to know the names of any additional operations using 

any of the pesticide permits associated with the operation named on the face 

page. If another operation is using one of the other pesticide permit ID’s 

associated with the operation on the face page, indicate which additional ID(s) 

is involved and with which additional operation.
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Item 4 - Fruit Management Company to Care for Fruit Crops

If the operation employs a fruit management company or service to care for the 

target fruit acres on this operation, check YES and continue. If NO, proceed to 

Section A.

When the operation employs a fruit management company or service, you 

must record CAL-EPA Site Location (Field Identification) Numbers (on 

page 7) for all crops listed in column 1 of the Fruit Acreage table (on page 6).

Item 4a - Name and Address of Fruit Management Company

If the operation answers ‘yes’ to Item 4, they DO employ a fruit management 

company to care for the targeted fruit acres, record the name, address, phone 

number, and any other relevant information in the boxes provided. The name of 

the fruit management employee who handles the fruit on the target operation 

should be included.
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Chapter 5 - Questionnaire Completion: Sections A - F & 

Conclusion

Section A - Land Operated

The information in this section defines and describes the selected operation during the 

2015 crop year. All land associated with the operation during the 2015 crop year should 

be reported. Western states must exclude Public, Industrial or Grazing Association 

(PIGA) land used on an Animal Unit Month (AUM) basis. At the time of the interview 

for this survey, some of the land operated during the 2015 crop year may no longer be 

in the operation, but count it anyway.

In this section, one tenth of an acre is the smallest acreage that can be reported. If the 

operator reported only whole acres, be sure to include a zero after the decimal point.

The 2015 crop year will vary from State to State, or even from commodity to 

commodity within a State. In some areas the 2015 crop year is a twelve month period 

which crosses two calendar years. Crop seasons are used to define the crop year. Often 

the 2015 crop year will be Fall 2014 through Summer 2015. Let the respondent 

determine, for her/his operation which period is considered to be the 2015 crop year. 

Sometimes a crop year will be less than a twelve month period. We want to include all 

land from the end of harvest of the 2014 crop to the end of harvest of the 2015 crop.

If an operation grew target crops during any part of the 2015 crop year, data for the 

operation should be collected for the time during which it was in business.

If the selected operator operates under several land operating arrangements, pick up 

data only for the land operating arrangement (individual, partnership or managed) 

associated with the sampled name.
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INCLUDE:

(1) All acres owned and all acres rented from others.

(2) All cropland, woodland, wasteland, wetland, pasture, idle land, and government 

program land regardless of location, if the operator made the day-to-day 

decisions for that land. If an operator living in one State made the day-to-day 

decisions for land across State lines, that land should be included in this 

section.

(3) Land worked by sharecroppers. Sharecropper operations are considered part of 

the landlord's operation. A sharecropper is a worker who furnishes ONLY 

LABOR (his own and often that of his family) for a share of the crop. 

Sharecroppers generally furnish no machinery, seed, fertilizer, etc.

(4) All land (owned or rented) used by a son or daughter for 4-H or FFA projects, 

if the operation’s equipment is used.

Item 1a - Acres Owned

INCLUDE:

(1) Land held by the operator and/or spouse and/or dependent children under title, 

purchase contract, homestead law, or as an heir or trustee of a divided estate.

(2) Cropland, woods, wasteland, wetland, pasture, idle land, government program 

land, orchards and vineyards.

(3) Land which is not currently used for agricultural purposes.

(4) All land owned and enrolled in government programs (acres in the 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and 

other diverted land.)

EXCLUDE:

All non-agricultural land separate from the operation that is permanently withdrawn 

from agricultural uses. This includes land in sub-divisions, commercial buildings, etc.
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Item 1b - Acres Rented From Others

Farm/ranch operators often do not consider non-cropland acres such as woods, 

wasteland and wetland to be part of rented acreage even though the landlord 

considers the whole parcel rented. Rent is usually based on the number of acres 

of cropland or pasture land. However, if the renter was responsible for looking 

out for the owner's interest in the woodland, wasteland and/or wetland, these 

acres should be included as acres rented from others.

INCLUDE:

All land rented from private individuals, partnerships, corporations, federal, 

State or local governments, Indian Reservations, railroads, etc. if the operation:

(1) Paid cash rent on a per acre basis.

(2) Paid for use of the land with a share of the crops (either standing or 

harvested).

(3) Paid for use of the land with a share of livestock production.

(4) Had free use of the land.

EXCLUDE:

(1) Any land used as pasture or for grazing livestock if payment was on a 

per head or Animal Unit Month (AUM) basis.

(2) Land on which the respondent's livestock were fed under a contract (for 

example, commercial feedlots).
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Item 1c - Acres Rented To Others

INCLUDE:

(1) Land that this operation owned (or rented from someone else) which 

was rented (or subleased) to another operation during the 2015 crop 

year. This land should also be included in either Item 1a or 1b.

(2) Land rented to others for cash.

(3) Land rented to others for a share of crop or livestock production.

(4) Land that this operation allowed another operation to use free of charge.

(5) Pasture or grazing land rented out on a per acre basis.

EXCLUDE:

(1) Land which this operation has enrolled in government programs 

(acreage in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetlands Reserve 

Program (WRP), and other diverted land).

(2) Land worked by sharecroppers on this operating unit.

(3) Land used by a son or daughter for 4-H or FFA projects, if the 

operation’s equipment was used.

(4) Land on which crops were grown under contract, if the land owner 

furnished machinery or controlled the seeding, growing and harvest of 

the crop.

(5) Land used for pasturing someone else's livestock when payment was 

made on a per head or AUM basis.

(6) Land on which the operator fed livestock under contract for someone 

else.
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Item 2 - Total Acres in Operation

The total acres operated are [1a + 1b - 1c]. Add up questions 1a and 1b, then 

subtract 1c, and enter calculation here. 

Item 2a should be read back to the operator to verify that your 

calculation sounds correct. If so, check yes. If not, redo question 1 and 

2 to get a correct total acreage. 

Item 3 - Total Cropland Acres

Of the (Item 2) Atotal acres operated@, enter the number of acres considered to 

be cropland in cell 802. Cropland is any tillable land currently in crop 

production or land that has previously been tilled and used for crops, and could 

be tilled again without additional improvements.

INCLUDE:

1) Land in crop-pasture rotation and cropland used for pasture or grazing 

during the current year.

2) Land in summer fallow.

3) Idle cropland (no crops planted or harvested in current year).

4) Cropland diverted for government programs (including CRP), unless 

the land is planted in trees.

5) Fruit orchards, vineyards, nut trees, and citrus groves.

6) Vegetables, melon crops, and other specialty foods.

7) Nursery crops, turf grass, sod, and Christmas trees.

8) Land in hay crops, excluding wild hay.

9) Pasture land tilled in the past if the land could be tilled again without 

first clearing brush, trees, undergrowth, etc.
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EXCLUDE:

(1) Permanent pasture and rangeland that has never been tilled.

(2) Wild hay land. Although wild hay is considered a crop, wild grasses cut 

for hay should not be included in acres of cropland.

(3) Government program acres planted to trees. These acres are woodland.

(4) Woodland and wasteland.

Item 4 - Total Fruit Acres

Of the (Item 2) Atotal acres operated,@ enter the number of acres in trees, 

bushes and vines on the operation in cell 803. This question will include ALL 

fruit acreage on the operation, including both target fruit crops and non-target 

fruit crops.

INCLUDE:

(1) All BEARING and NON-BEARING acreage in trees, vineyards, and 

bushes.

(2) All TARGET and NON-TARGET acreage in trees, vineyards, and 

bushes.

EXCLUDE:

(1) Abandoned orchards and vineyards.

(2) Acres planted to strawberries.

Section B - Target Fruit Acreage

The purpose of this section is to obtain the number of bearing acres of each of the target 

fruit crops. Expansions of these acres will be used in coverage analysis for the fruit 

chemical use data.

Within this section and throughout much of the rest of the questionnaire, the terms 

"fruit," "fruit acreage" and "fruit crops" will be used. Unless the questionnaire or specific 
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manual instructions say otherwise, include only the target fruit crop(s).

Do not collect acreage or pesticide data for any fruit crops or acres for operations 

other than the target operation.

Do not collect acreage or chemical data for any fruit acres which this operation 

grows outside of your State. This is because States may receive special use permits 

for certain pesticides that are not allowed in other States.

INCLUDE:

(1) Bearing target crops produced on the acres operated in this State on the target 

operation.

(2) All commercial bearing acreage equal to or greater than one tenth of an acre on 

the target operation.

(3) All bearing acreage of target crops on the target operation for processing or fresh 

market. 

(4) All bearing acreage of target crops on the target operation sold at roadside stands, 

farmer's markets or pick-your-own sales.

(5) Bearing acreage on the target operation not harvested due to weather, economic 

or other conditions.

EXCLUDE:

(1) All target crops grown in another State.

(2) Non-commercial orchard and vineyard acreage such as home gardens

(3) New plantings and other plantings which are not yet bearing.

(4) All target crops grown by institutional, experimental, research or university 

farms.

(5) Abandoned orchards and vineyards.
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TARGET CROPS & CODES

320 301 340

335 314

346 324

349 320

340

301

309 309

340 301

309

301 312

301 307 314

309 309 622

312 312 624

314 341 341

340 345 345

309 301

340 340

Blueberries

Peaches

PENNSYLVANIA

Apples

Peaches

Raspberries

WASHINGTON

Apples

Blueberries

Cherries, Sweet

Cherries, Tart

Grapes, Juice

Grapes, Wine

Pears

Raspberries

Blueberries

Cherries, Sweet

Cherries, Tart

Peaches

Apples

OREGON

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cherries, Sweet

Pears

SOUTH CAROLINA

Peaches

Grapefruit

Peaches

Apples

Blueberries

NEW JERSEY

MICHIGAN

Grapefruit

Oranges, All

Tangelos

NORTH CAROLINA

Tangerines

Blueberries

GEORGIA

Apples

Cherries, Tart

Grapes, All

NEW YORK

TEXAS

FLORIDA

Peaches

Apples

TARGET CROPS & CODES FOR CALIFORNIA VERSION

301 APPLES GRAPES 330 KIWIFRUIT 341 PEARS

303 APRICOTS RAISIN TYPE VARIEITES 331 LEMONS 342 PLUMS

(include all uses for

305 AVOCADOS Thompson Seedless variety) 333 NECTARINES 343 PRUNES

312 CHERRIES, SWEET 334 OLIVES 349 TANGERINES

316 DATES 524 TABLE TYPE VARIETIES 435 NAVEL ORANGES

318 FIGS 624 WINE TYPE VARIETIES 535 VALENCIA ORANGES

320 GRAPEFRUIT 340 PEACHES

CALIFORNIA CROP CODES

424
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Target Fruit Acreage Table

Columns 1 & 2 - Crop Name & Code

In these columns, record the name and corresponding code of each of the target 

fruit crops grown. Use the list of target crops and codes for your State. 

(California’s target crops and codes are listed at the bottom of page 6 in the 

questionnaire.) After the crop name is recorded in Column 1, record the 

corresponding crop code in Column 2. This page will often be referred to in the 

following sections of the questionnaire.

Column 3 - Bearing Fruit Acres

Record the number of bearing acres to the tenth of an acre for each of the target 

crops. For purposes of this survey, bearing acres are defined as acres from which 

the operator would normally expect to harvest some commercial production. This 

includes young plantings which are just beginning to produce.

If the operation has acreage of bearing age that is kept from bearing due to water 

shortage, market considerations, etc., these acres should still be counted as 

bearing acres.

Column 4 – Commercial Fertilizers Applied

At the individual target crop level, this item screens for commercial fertilizer 

applications. This column will help keep track of the crops for which fertilizer 

application data must be collected in Section C.

If commercial fertilizers were applied to an individual crop during the 2015 crop 

year, code the corresponding cell in column 4 with a “1.” Do not include noncommercial manure applications. If no commercial fertilizers were applied, 

simply make a “dash” through the cell.

Column 6 - Were Pesticides Applied? 

At the individual target crop level, this item screens for pesticide applications. 

This Column will help you keep track of the crops for which you will later collect 

pesticide application data. Include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, growth 

regulators, fumigants, etc. Include all applications made to the target crop during 

the 2015 crop year.

If herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc., were applied to an individual crop, 

code this column with a "1." If no pesticides were applied, simply make a "dash" 

through the cell.
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Column 7 - Harvest Completion Date for Prior Crop Year - (California 

Version Only)

Record the month, day, and year in which the 2014 crop year harvest was 

completed for each target crop. This will identify the appropriate starting month 

of pesticide applications for the 2015 crop year. If the respondent does not have 

the date recorded or is not reporting from his records, probe to determine the 

approximate timing. Try to get the month and then determine which third of the 

month the harvest was completed. If harvest was completed during the first ten 

days of the month, use 05 as the day. If it was sometime in the middle part of the 

month and the respondent is unsure of the exact date, use 15. If it was during the 

last part of the month and the respondent is unsure of the exact date, use 25.

Record the date in the format mm-dd-yy. For example, if the respondent knows 

that harvest was completed within the first ten days of November of 2014 but 

doesn’t know the exact date, record 110514; 11 for November, 05 for the 

midpoint of the first ten days, and 10 for 2014. Do not use dashes (11-05-14) or 

slashes (11/05/14) when recording dates.

If the operator abandoned the bearing acres due to weather or other reasons, 

record the date the operator stopped applying chemicals for the 2014 crop and 

began applying for the 2015 crop.

Column 8 - Harvest Completion Date for Current Crop Year -

(California Version Only)

Record the month, day and year in which harvest of each 2015 target fruit crop 

was completed. If harvest has not yet been completed for the 2015 crop, record 

the month, day and year in which the respondent expects to complete harvest of 

the 2015 crop. If the respondent does not know the exact dates, use the same 

coding pattern as described in the instructions for Column 7 to approximate 

dates.

If the operator abandoned the bearing acres due to weather or other reasons, 

record the date the operator stopped applying chemicals for the 2015 crop and 

began applying for the 2016 crop

CAL-EPA Site Location Number (California Version Only)

CAL-EPA Site Location Numbers are required for all crops listed in column 1 

when any California Screening question was answered YES. Refer back to items 

2, 3, and 4 on page 4.
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If item 2 was answered YES, then the CAL-EPA ID is used to report for other 

operations and you must record Site Location Numbers.

If item 3 was answered YES, then the operation uses multiple CAL-EPA ID=s 

and you must record Site Location Numbers.

If item 4 was answered YES, then the operation employs a fruit management 

company or service and you must record Site Location Numbers.

Collecting the Site Location Numbers will allow matching the data from this 

survey to the CAL-EPA, DPR chemical application information. If more than 6 

fields are needed, use a blank table from a blank questionnaire or if possible, go 

to the next line on the table and change the line number on page 7 to the line 

number you are using.

Fruit Acreage Supplements

Fruit Acreage Supplements were not created. If the need arises for additional 

lines, pull out Section B from a blank questionnaire and renumber the lines 

beginning with the next unused number. Also, copy the identifying numbers from 

the label on the face page of the questionnaire onto the top of any Fruit Acreage 

Asupplements. Be sure these supplemental pages are returned with the 

questionnaire to the State Office. Record the number of supplemental pages used 

in the blank space at the bottom of Section B.
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Section C - Fertilizer Applications

General

In this section, the respondent is asked to provide data on applications of 

fertilizers to the target fruit crop(s) during the 2015 crop year. The data provided 

in this section of the questionnaire will be summarized by applications of 

nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), potash (K2O), and sulfur (S). 

Include:

 all chemical fertilizer materials applied specifically for the 2015 crop,

 fertilizer applied in the fall of 2014 if no crop was grown,

 fertilizers applied by custom applicators,

 nitrogen products applied with herbicides to make the herbicide more 

effective,

 commercially prepared manure products.

Exclude:

 micro-nutrients, such as iron, zinc, and boron,

 lime and gypsum/landplaster,

 non-purchased manure and manure produced and used on the operation 

(unprocessed),

 fertilizers applied to previous crops planted in this field (even if the 

carryover was beneficial to the crop currently in the field).

Item 1 Fertilizer Application Table 

Look back at Column 4 of the table in Section B: Fruit Acreage. The fertilizer 

applications table must be completed for each of the target crops to which 

commercial fertilizers were applied. All applications made after harvest of the 

2014 crop through harvest of the 2015 target crop should be included. Do not 

include any applications made after harvest of the 2015 target crops. Commercial 

fertilizers include the common N-P-K-S types as well as commercially prepared 

organic materials, such as manure and milorganite, which have an N-P-K-S 

analysis provided by the fertilizer supplier. Include foliar sprays and leaf feeds. 

Exclude non-purchased manure or any manure produced and used on the 

operation. 

Column 1 Crop Name 

Record the name of each crop to which the operation applied commercial 
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fertilizers during the 2015 crop year. Refer back to Section B to be sure that all 

reported crops (or separately reported acreage of the same crop) are accounted for 

in the table if fertilizers were applied to them.

Column 2 Crop Code 

You can refer to Column 2 in the Section B table for the crop code for each of the 

crops to which commercial fertilizers were applied.

Columns 3-6 Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P2O5), Potash (K2O), & Sulfur 

(S)

Record the plant nutrients [nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), potash (K2O), and 

Sulfur (S)] of each fertilizer material applied to the selected target commodity 

field. These nutrients can be reported in either of two ways:

1. Percent analysis: This is the percentage composition of the product 

expressed in terms that the law requires and permits.

2. Pounds of actual plant nutrients: Use pounds of actual plant nutrients if 

absolutely necessary

Percent analysis is the preferred method of obtaining the data. Use actual plant 

nutrients only if absolutely necessary. Percent analysis is preferred because 

products used can be more easily identified this way.

Record the fertilizer data in terms of pounds, gallons, quarts, liquid ounces, dry 

ounces or pounds of actual plant nutrients applied PER ACRE. Be careful that the

respondent does not give you the total amount of fertilizer applied to the entire 

acreage. If a respondent knows only the total pounds of fertilizer or plant 

nutrients applied to the total acreage, you must calculate rate per acre and enter it 

in the table. Rate per acre is calculated as the total quantity applied divided by the 

acres to which the application was made. Show the computations for deriving the 

rate per acre in the margin of the form.

For some crops, farmers may say that fertilizer applied to the previous crop 

grown on the field was partly for the benefit of the selected field. Only part of this

fertilizer was actually carry-over for the target commodity. Watch out for this 

because we DO NOT want to include these fertilizer applications in the table. 

Important: Record each individual fertilizer application made to the target crop 

on a separate line only if the rate per acre or the total acres it was applied to were 

different. Otherwise put in the number of times it was applied in column 10.
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When fertilizer materials are bulk blended for application (for example, 10-10-

10-3 combined with 21-0-0-24), record each product on a separate line in the 

fertilizer table, even though the fertilizer blend was applied in one trip over the 

field

Percent Analysis

The most common method for reporting fertilizer materials is by percent analysis 

of their content of Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P2O5), Potash (K2O), and Sulfur (S) 

in that order, though in many cases Sulfur many be left off. For example, 13-13-

13-5 is 13 percent Nitrogen, 13 percent Phosphate, 13 percent Potash, and 5 

percent Sulfur. This means that forty-four (13+13+13+5) out of every one 

hundred pounds of this fertilizer is active ingredients (N, P2O5, K2O, S). Fiftysix (100 - 44) pounds of every one hundred pounds of this fertilizer is carrier 

material (inert ingredients).

Two of the more common fertilizers used in crop production are 18-46-0 

(Diammonium phosphate or DAP) and 82-0-0 (anhydrous ammonia). If 18-46-0 

were reported, you’d record 18 in Column 3 under N (nitrogen) and 46 under 

P2O5 (phosphate). The K2O (potash) and S (sulfur) columns would be dashed 

since there is no potassium (potash) or sulfur in the mixture. For anhydrous 

ammonia, you’d record 82 under N. Since there is no phosphorus, potash, or 

sulfur in anhydrous, the phosphate and potash columns should be dashed.

Some fertilizer materials are applied in liquid form. A common liquid fertilizer 

material used in crop production is 32-0-0 (nitrogen solution). For this material, 

you would record a 32 under N for nitrogen and dash the columns for phosphate, 

potash, and sulfur.

Carrier or filler material makes up the rest of the total weight for commercial 

fertilizers. If a farmer reports 35-45-20, he’s probably reporting pounds of actual 

nutrients instead of analysis since the three amounts (35 + 45 + 20) add up to 

more than 85 percent. However, if sulfur is incorporated into the material, 

this rule no longer holds true when all four analysis are added together.

For fertilizer applications reported by percent analysis, record the quantity 

applied per acre (including carrier) in Column 7 and the appropriate unit of 

measure in Column 8.

For bulk blended fertilizer materials, use a separate line for each of the fertilizers 

that the dealer blended in the mixture. If the dealer mixed 150 pounds of 18-46-0-

0 and 250 pounds of 0-0-21-23 together, record each on a separate line. DO NOT 

just add it up and record it on one line as 400 pounds of 18-46-21-23. This would 
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be a major error, because the correct analysis of this fertilizer is 7-17-13-14, 

calculated by:

N (150 ÷ 400) x .18 = .068 (or 7%)

because there were 150 pounds of 18-46-0-0 in the mixture and of those 150 

pounds, 18% was Nitrogen.

P2O5 (150 ÷ 400) x .46 = .173 (or 17%)

because 46 percent of the 150 pounds was available Phosphorus.

K2O (250 ÷ 400) x .21 = .131 (or 13%)

because there were 250 pounds of 0-0-21-23 in the mixture and of those 250 

pounds 21% was Potash.

S (250 ÷ 400) x .23 = .143 (or 14%)

because 23 percent of the 250 pounds was available Sulfur.

Actual Plant Nutrients

Another way farmers might report fertilizer use is in terms of Actual Plant 

Nutrients (AN) applied per acre. This may also be called pounds of active 

ingredients. If the farmer knew he applied 60 pounds of nitrogen, 35 pounds of 

phosphorus, 40 pounds of potash, and 35 pounds of sulfur PER ACRE, record 

this information in Columns 3 through 6 and record code 19 in Column 8. In this 

case, Column 7 should be blank because we know the actual amount applied for 

each of the four materials so we don’t need to calculate it from percentages.

When farmers report “units” of N, P2O5, K2O, or S this is usually a clue that they 

are reporting pounds of actual nutrients. Fertilizer materials will amount to more 

than the actual nutrient contents of the products applied, because part of the 

material applied is carrier material, just like when the farmer reports by percent 

analysis.

For example, if the farmer reported that he applied 100 units of Nitrogen in the 

form of anhydrous ammonia, he would have applied about 122 pounds of 82% 

nitrogen (100 ÷ .82 = 122). If this were reported by percent analysis, “82” would 

be recorded in the N column, “122” in Column 7 and “1” in Column 8. If it were 

reported as pounds of actual nutrients it would be recorded as 100 in the N 

column and 19 in Column 8. Column 7 would be left blank.
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When actual plant nutrients (active ingredients) or “units” of a fertilizer are 

reported, you should probe to be sure the quantity applied is correct. One way to 

do this is to ask (when units were reported) if the actual weight of material 

applied was more than the number of units reported. For example, “You said you 

put down 100 units of UAN32 per acre. Did the material you applied actually 

weigh more than 100 pounds per acre?”

Other Methods of Reporting Fertilizer Use

Farmers may also report fertilizers by name. The Respondent Booklet shows 

some of the more common fertilizers with their usual analysis.

Anhydrous ammonia is the strongest nitrogen fertilizer available. It must be 

stored in a tank under pressure. It is applied by injection into the ground or into 

irrigation water. Anhydrous is a liquid when under pressure, but turns into a gas 

when released and is lost if not injected into the soil. Anhydrous ammonia is a 

very popular fertilizer because it is often cheaper (per pound of nutrient) than 

other forms. It may be reported as “anhydrous”, “gas”, “NH3”, “82-0-0”, “units of 

nitrogen”, or as “pounds of actual nitrogen” (N).

Aqua ammonia is one of the more common types of liquid nitrogen fertilizers. It 

is made up of anhydrous ammonia and water and is often used in Western states. 

It may be reported in pounds (actual N) or gallons (material or product). 

Although it is a liquid, it is usually reported in pounds of actual N.

Urea is another commonly used nitrogen fertilizer because it has a high nitrogen 

analysis. It may be added through an irrigation system, usually as a nitrogen 

solution.

With many of the other fertilizers listed in the Respondent Booklet, the analysis 

may vary. Probe to find out if the farmer knows the analysis or the pounds of 

actual nutrients applied. If he doesn’t know the analysis but knows the name, use 

the analysis shown in the Respondent Booklet.

Column 7 Quantity Applied Per Acre 

Leave this column blank if actual nutrients were reported. If pounds, gallons, 

quarts or ounces were reported, record the amount used PER ACRE. Be sure the 

operator does not report the total amount applied to all acres. More than one 

application (of the same fertilizer made to the same crop) may be recorded on the 

same line; however, quantity used per acre should be for one application only 

(and the application rate for each of the applications must be identical).
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Column 8 Unit Codes

Units which the respondent may report are listed. If the operator reports in 

pounds, enter code 1. If gallons are reported, enter code 12. For quarts, enter code 

13. If ounces of liquid are reported, enter code 15. If ounces of dry product are 

reported, enter code 28. If actual nutrients are reported, enter code 19. As covered 

in the discussion of Columns 3 through 6, be sure to properly record the unit that 

the respondent reports.

Column 9 Acres Applied 

Record the total number of acres receiving the reported fertilizer application. 

Again, record treated acres, which is the actual land acres treated with fertilizer.

Column 10 Number of Times Applied 

If more than one application of the same fertilizer material, with the same 

quantity used per acre for each application, was made to the same acres, account 

for this in Column 10.

The minimum entry in this Column is 1, since each acre reported must have been 

fertilized with the specific fertilizer at least once. If the entry in this column is 

greater than 1, be sure that the figure in Column 7 (amount applied per acre per 

application) is for one application only, and not the sum of all the applications. 

Fertilizer Supplement

You may or may not have been provided with a fertilizer applications 

supplement. If not, and it takes more than the 40 lines available in the 

questionnaire to record fertilizer applications, you may use as many copies of the 

Fertilizer Table from blank questionnaires as you need. Copy the identifying 

numbers from the label on the face page of the questionnaire onto each extra 

table used, and be sure it is returned inside the questionnaire to the RFO. 

Supplemental tables should begin with 002 and increase by one (i.e. 002, 003, 

004).
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Section D - Pesticide Applications (Except California Version)

Pesticide Screening Questions

The screening questions on page 7 screen for pesticide use on the target fruit 

crops. Refer to the answers to these questions as you complete the pesticide table. 

For example, be sure that if the respondent reported that herbicides were used in 

item 1, there is at least one herbicide application listed in the table.

The crop year begins at the end of harvest for the 2014 crop. All applications 

made after harvest of the 2014 crop up through harvest of the 2015 crop should 

be included.

Include

 All pesticide materials applied for 2015 fruit crops.

 Custom applied pesticides.

 Defoliants or desiccants.

 Biological and botanical pesticides, such as Bt.

 Applications made by airplane.

 Partial field treatments (including spot treatments)

Exclude

 Adjuvants, surfactants or crop oils (e.g., wetting agents, stickers, and 

spreaders).

 Fertilizers applied as foliar sprays.

 Applications to fence rows, ditch banks, canals, and ponds.

Spot treatments

Spot treatments occur when pesticide material is applied only to scattered spots in 

the orchard or field, such that the area treated is hard to define. Spot treatments 

will need to be included in the pesticide table this year as opposed to previous 

years when we omitted them. It will be difficult to determine the cumulative 

number of acres spot treated. Please get the operator to give their best estimate of 

acres spot treated and record the acreage in column 9.

 

Adjuvants
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Adjuvants are used to aid the operation or improve the effectiveness of 

pesticides. A spray adjuvant may contain one or more surfactants, solvents, 

solubilizers, buffering agents, and stickers needed to formulate a specific type 

adjuvant. By using the proper adjuvant, it is often possible to use certain chemical 

pesticides in a tank mix that otherwise would present compatibility problems. 

However, if you or the respondent are in doubt about whether a product should be 

included, record it anyway and write notes to explain the situation.

Applications to fence rows, ponds, canals and ditch banks

This land should not be considered part of the target fruit acres. Often the 

chemicals used for killing weeds and other pests in these areas are not labeled for 

use on fruit crops.

Item 1 - Herbicide Use

This question determines whether herbicides were used during the 2015 crop year 

on the target fruit crops grown by the operation.

Check YES or NO, and continue.

Item 2 - Insecticide, Nematicide, Miticide Use

This question determines if insecticides, nematicides or miticides were used 

during the 2015 crop year on any of the target fruit crops grown by the operation.

Check YES or NO, and continue.

Item 3 - Fungicide Use

This question determines if fungicides were used on any of the target fruit crops 

grown by the operation during the 2015 crop year.

Check YES or NO, and continue.

Item 4 - Other Chemical Use

This question determines whether any other agricultural chemicals such as 

growth regulators, microbial agents, rodenticides, repellents, thinners, soil 

fumigants, pheromones, defoliants, desiccants, etc. were used on any of the target 

fruit crops during the 2015 crop year.

Check YES or NO, and continue.
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Enumerator Note

This item routes you to the next appropriate question. If no pesticides were 

applied (items 1 through 4 were all NO), the rest of Section D should be skipped. 

If pesticides were applied to any of the target fruit crops, continue with item 6 on 

page 8.

Use of Records

Because of record keeping requirements for restricted use pesticides, most 

operators will have records of chemical applications for each field. Encourage the 

respondent to use these records if they are available. Restricted use pesticides are 

identified as such on the product label.
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Use of the Respondent Booklet

Both you and the respondent should use the Respondent Booklet. Most of 

the pesticide products used on the target fruits are listed in the Respondent 

Booklet. It is very important to obtain the trade name as well as the 

formulation from the operator to insure that the correct product code is 

recorded. In order to report the formulation and whether the product is liquid 

or dry, the respondent may have to look at the product label or detailed 

itemized receipts for the product.

Some respondents may be willing to use the booklet and to report the 

product code for each of the products they used. You should encourage this 

since it makes the job of enumeration easier as well as making reporting 

faster and more accurate.

To aid in identification, the products in the Respondent Booklet are 

categorized as liquid (L) or dry (D) formulations. Ask the respondent if the 

product was in a liquid or dry state when it was purchased. This should 

help you and the respondent find and record the correct product codes.

The Respondent Booklet also lists the type or class of each product:

 Herbicide (H);

 Insecticide (I);

 Fungicide (F);

 Miscellaneous (M);

 Miscellaneous Defoliant (MD);

 Miscellaneous Growth Regulator (MG);

 Miscellaneous Rodenticide (MR);

 Miscellaneous Soil Fumigant (MS); and

 Other products (O).

Some chemicals and pesticides have more than one use. Some products with 

more than one use may be listed twice if the second use is associated with a 

separate product code. For example,

L H 40942 Roundup 

L MD 90167 Roundup 

For products that are listed more than once, be sure to probe for what it was 
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used for and record the correct product code associated with that use.

Note that each product code listed in the Respondent Booklet specifies the 

trade name and formulation. The numbers and letters after the product name 

identify the concentration and form. For example, Captan 80-WP: Captan is 

the trade name, and the 80WP indicates the formulation. The 80 indicates 

the concentration as the percent of active ingredient in a pound of product, 

and the WP indicates that the form of the product is Wettable Powder. 

Also note that for several products there is more than one formulation for a 

given trade name: Diazinon 50W, Diazinon 4E, and Diazinon AG500. 

Different formulations of a product have different concentrations of the 

active ingredient and inert materials.

It is extremely important that you get the correct product code because 

active ingredient concentrations for different products and different 

formulations vary greatly. Since we summarize by active ingredient in the 

product, recording a product or its formulation incorrectly will make a 

difference when the active ingredient application rate per acre is calculated.

If you cannot find a reported product in the Pesticide Code List in the 

Respondent Booklet, complete the line at the bottom of section D which 

requests data on the unknown product. If you run out of space to report 

unknown chemicals in this section, use a blank page in the questionnaire, or 

write down the information on a blank sheet of paper to send to the Regional

Office. Make sure that if you use a blank sheet of paper to record unknown 

chemical products, you print the operation name, operation ID from the front 

page of the questionnaire, and the target crop on the sheet of paper. The 

Regional Office will research the product and assign a new product code if 

necessary.

Pesticide Applications Table

Item 6 is a lead-in to completing the pesticide applications table. All 

applications made after harvest of the 2014 crop through harvest of the 2015

crop should be included. Do not include any applications made to the 

target fruit crops after the 2015 crop year harvest.

There are several ways a respondent may report within this section. The 

questionnaire is flexible enough to handle most of them. Depending on the 

way records are kept or the way the respondent thinks about chemical and 
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pesticide applications, it may be easier to report all applications to one crop 

before going on to the next crop, versus reporting applications to all target 

crops in chronological order.

If the operator prefers to report chemical applications to target fruit crops 

one at a time, make sure that applications to all target crops are reported 

before you continue with the rest of the interview. Refer to Section B to 

identify any target crops the operator may have mistakenly skipped over. 

The respondent may report applications in the order in which products were 

applied, especially if application records are used. In this case, applications 

to a specific crop may be mixed in with applications to other target crops. 

Take care that only applications to target fruit crops are reported in the 

chemical applications table. Chronological reporting is probably the most 

accurate form of reporting and the most likely form of reporting if whole 

farm records are used.

Columns 1 & 2 - Crop & Code

Record the crop name and code for each pesticide application. Each 

pesticide product must be recorded on a separate line, so you may have 

several lines for each crop receiving chemical applications.

Column 3 - Product Code 

Record the product code from the respondent booklet of the herbicide, 

insecticide, fungicide, etc., reported.

In some cases fruit growers may report the use of something called 

Bordeaux mixture, which is a fungicide spray. It is made up of hydrated 

lime, copper sulfate and water. Only the copper sulfate (product code 70050 

or 70051) is an active ingredient in the spray. If the respondent reports using 

Bordeaux mixture, record the amount of copper sulfate used, not the amount 

of the whole Bordeaux mixture.

Information for Unlisted Pesticides

If you cannot find a code for a pesticide in the Respondent Booklet, it still 

must be included in the table. You must also complete the descriptive items 

in the lines below the table to provide information needed to identify the 

unlisted products. Record the line number(s) of the pesticide from the table, 

the pesticide type (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, etc.), the EPA 

Registration number or the name and formulation of the product, the product 

form (liquid or dry) and finally, where the product was purchased.
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The EPA Registration number is the best means of identifying a 

product. If the respondent does not know the EPA Registration number or 

the trade name and formulation, record as much information about the 

product as you can. Where purchased can be especially helpful because the 

Regional Office can check with the sales outlet to get the correct 

formulation. A good, complete entry for an unlisted product follows.

Unlisted Product Example:

W

h

a

t

i

s

What is an EPA Registration Number?

All pesticide products, if properly registered, are identified by a unique EPA 

Registration Number (EPA Reg. No.) which is required to be printed on the 

product label. A label example is shown below. EPA Reg. No’s. are several 

digits long, such as 312-1813 or 2980-4. In the example, the EPA Reg. No. 

is 100-673. Be aware that the EPA Reg. No. is not the same thing as an EPA 

Establishment (EPA Est.) number. EPA Est. numbers indicate which 

companies are licensed to market the product, but do not uniquely identify 

the product.

At a minimum, the EPA Reg. No. includes two components separated by a 

"-":

For pesticides not listed on card, specify:

Line # Pesticide Type

(Herb., Insect., 

Fung., etc.)

Trade name & 

Formulation

Form Purchased

(Liquid or Dry)

EPA Number

 22 I Danitol 2.4 

EC

 L 59639-35
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1 - Firm Number: identifies the company that is the primary registrant with 

the U.S. EPA; one to six digits long. California assigns their own unique 

firm numbers to companies that register products which are not required to 

be registered by U.S. EPA.

2 - Product Number: identifies the product; generally assigned sequentially 

(i.e., with each new EPA product registration for a company, a new product 

number is assigned); one to five digits long.

Occasionally, an EPA Reg. No. will include additional components. For 

example, 31703-EUP-1673, where EUP means the registration is for an 

AExperimental Use Permit.@ Also, products registered in California have an 

extra component called the California Revision Code which identifies 

individual brand name registrations. It consists of two letters and creates a 

unique identifier for each product. A single product may have many brand 

names registered within the state. Unique revision codes assigned to each 

allow for identification of the specific brand name. The letters may or may 

not appear on actual product labeling.

Remember that EPA Est. numbers do not identify products, therefore, do 

not record numbers labeled AEPA Est.@ in lines 2 or 3 of example above 

of the Pesticide Applications section. These numbers identify companies 

that are registered under an existing agreement certified by the U.S. EPA to 

market a product owned by another company. For a product registered in 

California, this number represents the company that holds the license for 

pesticide registration within the state.

Below are definitions of some common product state 

abbreviations.

L (Liquid) These products flow like water. Concentrations are usually 

expressed in pounds per gallon.

E (EC) Emulsifiable concentrates. These are usually thicker than 

water and are mixed with water and applied as sprays. They 

contain one or more active ingredients, one or more solvents 

and an emulsifier. Their concentrations are generally 

indicated in pounds per gallon.
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F (FL)

(Flowable)

These products are in liquid form. They contain finely 

ground active ingredients suspended in the liquid. They are 

mixed with water for application. Their concentrations are 

indicated in pounds per gallon.

D (Dust) Dusts contain a low percentage of active ingredients on a 

very fine dry inert carrier such as talc, chalk or clay. They are 

usually applied directly as purchased. Their concentrations 

are expressed as percentages.

WP (W)

SP (S)

Wettable or Soluble Powders. These are dry products, much 

like flour, which will dissolve or disperse in water. Their 

concentrations are indicated as percentages

G

(Granular)

Granular products contain active ingredients coated or 

absorbed onto coarse particles like clay, ground walnut shells 

or ground corn cobs. The pellets are about the diameter of 

the lead in a pencil (or larger); during shipment the granules 

have a tendency to break down and create dust. These are 

used as purchased. Their concentrations are expressed as 

percentages.

DF (Dry 

Flowable), 

WSG 

(Water 

Soluble 

Granules)

Also known as water dispersible granules. These are small 

pellets formulated to reduce the dust problem created with 

granules. They are like wettable powders, except that the 

active ingredient is formulated on a granule instead of a 

powder. The product pours easily into spray tanks for mixing 

with water. Their concentrations are expressed as 

percentages.

Bait Bait products contain active ingredients mixed with food or 

another attractive substance. Concentrations are expressed as 

percentages.

Column 4 - Liquid or Dry 

Record an "L" or a "D" to indicate in what form the product was purchased. 

Be sure the liquid or dry designation listed by the product code selected from 

the Respondent Booklet agrees with what you record here for the product.

Column 5 - Tank Mix Line Number 

For products not applied as part of a tank mix, leave this column blank.
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Products applied in a tank mix (two or more products mixed in the tank by 

the farmer/custom applicator and applied together) must be identified on the 

questionnaire. Since the table is designed for one product per line, each 

product in a tank mix must be recorded on a separate line. Identify the 

products in a tank mix by recording in column 5 the line number of the first 

product in the tank mix.

For example, consider a tank mix where you recorded the first product on 

line 9, the second product on line 10 and the last product on line 11. In 

Column 5 of line 9 you should record "9" which signals that this line is the 

beginning of the list of products in that tank mix. In column 5 of line 10, 

record "9" again to indicate this product as part of the same tank mix listed 

on line 9. Record "9" in column 5 of line 11 also.

In a tank mix situation, column 5 (tank mix line), column 9 (percent 

covered), column 10 (acres treated), and column 11 (number of times 

applied) must all be the same for each product in the mix.

Tank Mix Example:

The operation had 50 acres of bearing apples. All acres received a tank mix 

containing Agri-Mek 0.15EC at 20 oz/acre, Malathion 8 at 3 qt/acre, and 

Superior Oil at 1 gal/acre. This was applied once over all rows.

L

I

N

E

1 2 3 4 5 6 OR 7 8 9 10 11

CROP CROP

CODE

What 

products 

were applied 

...? [L or 

D]

[line no. 

of first 

product in 

tank mix]

... applied per 

acre per 

application?

... total 

amount 

applied ..?

[unit 

code]

[percent 

covered]

How many 

acres were 

treated?

How many 

times was 

it applied?

09 Apples 301 10405 L 9 20.00 15 100 50.0 1

10 A 301 10307 L 9 3.00 13 100 50.0 1

11 A 301 10386 L 9 1.00 12 100 50.0 1
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Column 6 - Rate Per Acre Per Application

OR

Column 7 - Total Amount Applied Per Application

The rate per acre per application or the total amount applied per application 

may be used for each product reported. Get data for either column 6 or 

column 7, not both. Do not use both on the same line.

If the respondent is able to give either total quantity applied per application or 

rate per acre, select the option which the respondent feels will give the most 

accurate data.

Record application rates to one-hundredth of the respective unit, that is, to 

two decimal places. Be sure that if whole numbers are reported, two zeros are 

entered after the decimal point.

For column 6, rate per acre is the amount used in one application to one acre. 

If the same amount of a chemical was applied several times to the same crop, 

more than one application may be recorded on a line by entering a number 

greater than 1 in column 11 (number of times applied).

In column 7, record the total quantity applied per application to all acres 

treated. If column 11 (number of times applied) is more than 1, be sure this 

figure is the total quantity for one application only, rather than a total for all 

applications.

See the example under the discussion about Column 11 below.

Note: For both columns, please notice cell values are needed to two decimal 

places. 

Alternative Methods of Reporting Rate or Quantity:

In some cases, respondents cannot report either the rate per acre per 

application of a product or the total amount of the product applied per 

application. In these cases, there is an additional way to possibly collect the 

data.
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If the respondent knows:

1) the amount of the product mixed with every 100 gallons of water,

2) the number of gallons in each tank,

3) the number of tanks used to cover the acres,

Make a note of these figures. The Survey Statistician will be able to calculate 

the amount of product used.

Other ways of reporting amount applied include parts per million (PPM), and 

rate per 100 gallons of water. In these cases, try to find out the amount of 

actual product used (before mixing with water), and write notes to give the 

Survey Statistician as much information as possible.

Alternative Method of Reporting Example:

The operation had 25 acres of bearing apples. Dupont Asana XL was applied 

once at full coverage by the operator. Exactly 5.8 ounces were applied per 

100 gallons. To cover the 25 acres, 17 tanks were used and each tank holds 

300 gallons.

L

I

N

E

1 2 3 4 5 6 OR 7 8 9 10 11

CROP CROP

CODE

What 

products 

were applied 

...? [L or 

D]

[line no. 

of first 

product in 

tank mix]

... applied per 

acre per 

application?

... total 

amount 

applied ..?

[unit 

code]

[percent 

covered]

How many 

acres were 

treated?

How many 

times was 

it applied?

15 Apples 301 10004 L 100 25.0 1

Example of a note:

Line 15: 5.8 oz. of Dupont Asana XL was applied per 100 gal. of water. 

Operator used 17 tanks with 300 gal. in each tank.

Column 8 - Unit Code

Unit codes relate to the rate per acre or the total quantity reported in column 6 

or 7. Spirals and packets are available as units. Even though these are not 

units of measure, our summary system knows how much active ingredient 

(AI) is in each packet or spiral and can calculate the AI for each. Please write 

notes if any unit is reported other than the ones listed in the questionnaire.
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Column 9 - Percent Coverage

You should understand the difference between the broadcast rate per acre 

(amount needed for full coverage) and the effective rate (amount actually 

applied). Picture a two-lane country road which requires 40 cubic yards of 

gravel per mile to resurface the full width of the road. If one lane of the road 

is resurfaced, only 20 yards are used on a mile of road. Here, the broadcast 

rate (the amount required to resurface both lanes of a mile of road) is 40 cubic

yards, while the effective rate (the amount this mile of road actually received) 

is 20 cubic yards.

The effective rate is the correct way to report actual chemical usage. This 

column provides an adjustment factor when broadcast rates per acre are 

reported.

If coverage included all rows or area of target crop acres, entering "100" in 

column 9 means that 100 percent of the rate per acre will be used in the data 

summary. If only every other row was treated, entering "50" in column 9 

means that the rate per acre will be cut in half for the summary. If some other 

coverage was used (every third row, every fourth row, etc.) record the percent 

of the total acres actually covered.

If total amount applied per application is reported (column 7) rather 

than rate (column 6), enter 100 in percent of the rows covered (column 

9).

Column 10 - Acres Treated 

Here, a differentiation must be made between treated acres and treatment 

acres. Treated acres are the actual physical (land) acres of crop which were 

treated B it does not matter how many times the acres were treated. It matters 

that these acres are only counted once. Treatment acres are the total number 

of acres covered by applications of a product regardless of whether they are 

the same acres or different acres. If the same 40 acres are treated 4 times, the 

number of treated acres is 40 and treatment acres is 160 (4 x 40). In this 

example 40 acres would be recorded in column 10. Never record treatment 

acres in these questionnaires.

Acres must be reported to one decimal place in column 10. Zero must be 

recorded after the decimal point if whole acres are recorded. For example, if 

the farmer treated exactly 25 acres, the entry in column 10 must be 25.0. 

Otherwise, if "25" is entered in the cell, the summary will consider the entry 

to be 2.5, and a preventable error will be summarized.
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Column 11 - How Many Times Applied

The minimum entry in this column is 1, since each acre that you will record 

in column 9 must have been treated at least once. However, multiple 

treatments may be reported. In some cases it may be easier to use more than 

one line to record information than to find a previous entry of a specific 

product application to that crop and change the number of times applied. It 

should be noted that in order to have a number greater than 1 in column 11, 

all application data must be the same, i.e., same crop, product, rate or total 

applied, unit, and acres treated. (Washington State will record the date 

MMDDYY of the application in column 11.)

Number of Times Applied Example:

The operation had 5 acres of blackberries. Diazinon 4E was applied 4 times at 

full coverage by the operator. For the season, the producer used a total of 8 

pints on his blackberries. Using 8 pints total for the year, this would mean 

that each application used 2 pints on his 5 acres of blackberries. This was 

applied over all 5 acres on each application.

L

I

N

E

1 2 3 4 5 6 OR 7 8 9 10 11

CROP CROP

CODE

What 

products 

were applied 

...? [L or 

D]

[line no. 

of first 

product in 

tank mix]

... applied per 

acre per 

application?

... total 

amount 

applied ..?

[unit 

code]

[percent 

covered]

How many 

acres were 

treated?

How many 

times was 

it applied?

01 Blackberry 307 10056 L 2.00 14 100 5.0 4
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Pesticide Applications Supplements

More than one page of pesticide applications tables are printed in each 

questionnaire. If you need more than the 50 lines provided, use a 

Supplemental Pesticide Applications Table. Copy the identifying numbers 

from the label on the face page of the questionnaire onto each supplement 

used. Supplemental tables should be numbered beginning with Table 002. 

Every table used in completing the questionnaire must have a unique number. 

Be sure the supplement is returned to the Regional Office inside the 

questionnaire. When all Pesticide Supplements are complete, record the total 

number used in the Pesticide Supplements cell 068 on the last page of the 

questionnaire.
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Section E - Pest Management Practices

What is this Section for? How is the Information Used?

This section provides data about pest management practices the grower used 

on the total fruit acres on the operation in 2015.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to control pests in a more 

environmentally responsible manner than strictly relying on pesticides. IPM 

combines physical, biological, cultural, and chemical methods of pest control 

which decrease the reliance on chemicals.

An integrated pest management approach can:

 Be an alternative to pesticide use;

 Reduce the number of pesticide applications needed;

 Reduce the toxicity of the pesticides used by producers;

 Improve the effectiveness of the pesticides applied.

The pest management data allows researchers to determine grower adoption 

levels of non-chemical pest management practices, the reduction in chemical 

use of those using alternative pesticide treatment strategies, and the 

corresponding environmental, public health, and cost benefits derived from 

decreased pesticide usage.

Introduction and Definition of Pests

The introductory statement:

1) Explains to the operator that you will be asking about pest 

management practices used on the TOTAL fruit acres on the operation in 

2015;

2) Defines PESTS to include WEEDS, INSECTS, AND DISEASES. 

Many operators tend to focus on one kind of pest depending on the crop, but 

we are interested in control practices for all types of pests.
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Pesticide Applications Reported in Section D

If any pesticides were reported in Section B – Fruit Acreage column 6, 

continue with item 2. If no pesticide applications were made, begin with item 

4.

Item 1: Weather Data to Assist Determining Pesticide Applications

Weather data used by operators to determine either the need or when to make 

pesticide applications is another form of pest management. By monitoring 

weather data, the timing of spraying orchards or fields may increase 

effectiveness, allow for a lower application rate, reduce drift, or decrease the 

total number of applications needed. Temperature and precipitation data can 

be used to determine whether a chemical application is likely needed. Fungi 

development is more likely to occur in damp conditions with low 

temperatures. If conditions have been dry and hot, a fungicide treatment may 

not be needed.

If this practice was used during the 2015 crop year, enter code 1 = YES.

Item 2: Biological Pesticides Applied

Determine if any biological pesticides were used for the 2015 crop year. A 

biological pesticide is a product such as an insect growth regulator, neem, or 

an active bacteria.

Neem is extracted from the seeds and leaves of the neem tree. The primary 

mode of action of neem is to cover the plant with this natural pesticide. The 

insect pests refuse to eat any plant covered with neem, eventually starving to 

death. Another effect is that it acts as a repellent and will not permit an insect 

to reproduce.

The active bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is a natural insecticide 

found in the soil and acts as a biological pesticide when it is applied to a crop.

There are numerous biological insecticides on the market.

If this practice was used during the 2015 crop year, enter code 1 =

YES.

Item 3: Pesticides Rotated or Tank Mixed to Prevent Pest Resistance

A common pest management practice is to rotate (from one year to another) 

or tank mix chemicals with different mechanisms of action. By Adifferent

mechanisms of action we are talking about HOW the chemical kills the pest 
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(attacks the nervous system, digestive system, etc). 

If the operator rotated or tank mixed chemicals for the primary purpose of 

slowing the development of pest resistance in 2015, enter code 1 = YES.

Item 4: Method of Pest Scouting

This question serves as a screening question to determine the intensity level 

of pest scouting. Scouting involves some means of monitoring the orchard or 

field for the presence of pests. Scouting is an activity, and there are 

differences in the ways producers scout for pests. Scouting may be done once 

in a while when an operator is doing fieldwork, or scouting may be done 

every so many days during the growing season or even daily when weather 

conditions favor rapid development of specific pests. 

Enter the code that represents the primary approach the respondent used to 

scout for pests on the operation=s fruit acres. Continue with item 6 if code = 

1, with item 8 if code = 2, or with item 11 if code = 3.

Code 1

By deliberately going to the orchard or field specifically for scouting 

activities: The operator has an established scouting strategy (based on time 

and/or method) and goes to the orchard deliberately for the purpose of 

checking for pests. The orchard may be scouted based on a schedule such as 

every four days. The operator may have some predetermined approach to how 

the scouting will be done (check every x number of rows and every x number 

of plants per row, etc.). Insect traps may be used for monitoring infestation 

levels. These are more deliberate, thorough, and scientific approaches to 

scouting than conducting Ageneral observations@ or scouting only if there is 

field work to be done in or adjacent to the orchard.

Be sure to code deliberate scouting as "1"

Code 2

Conducting general observations while performing routine tasks: The 

operator does not have a structured scouting strategy where deliberate 

scouting trips are made to the orchards or fields at determined intervals or 

when weather conditions favor rapid development of specific pests. Rather, 

the operator periodically checks for the presence of pests as field tasks are 

performed. The scouting approach is somewhat casual where the operator 

may not even get off the tractor to look more closely for pest presence. What 

part of the orchard or field the operator may look for pests is random and 
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counts of pests are not taken.

Be sure to code scouting while performing routine tasks as "2" 

Code 3

The fruit acres were not scouted for pests.

Be sure to code acres were not scouted as a "3"

Item 5: Established Scouting Process Used

If the operator’s method of deliberately scouting the fruit acres includes using 

a recommended system of checking every x number of rows and every x 

number of trees or bushes per row, or another mathematically sound approach 

for accurately determining pest levels, or if pest counts are taken while 

randomly checking in the orchard or field or if pest traps are used to monitor 

insect levels, enter code 1 = YES.

If the operator deliberately scouts the fruit acres for pests by randomly spot 

checking one or more parts of the orchard (not using a systematic system), 

and does not keep records of pest population counts or use pest traps, the 

answer is NO, leave the column blank.

Item 6: Why Scouting Was Done

6. a. A pest advisory warning?

Under certain climatic conditions, the potential for pest infestation is higher 

than normal. The County, Cooperative or University Extension advisor, crop 

consultant or other advisory source will often issue a pest advisory warning -

a recommendation that growers scout their orchards or fields for particular 

pests. 

If scouting was done based on a pest advisory warning, enter code 1 = YES.

6. b. A pest development model?

Pest monitoring consists primarily of "in field" scouting surveys. However, 

there are also area-wide programs that monitor pest development, population 

levels, migration and seasonal emergence of overwintering insects. These 

predictive models are used to forecast the time and development stage of pest 

infestations. Often, a trapping network is used in conjunction with a 
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predictive degree-day model to forecast insect larval growth and development 

and predict when growers need to scout for particular pests. 

If scouting was based on information from a pest development model, enter 

code 1 = YES.

Item 7: Pest Scouting

Column 1: Was Field Scouted for Pests

Determine if any fruit acres were scouted for weeds, insects or diseases. 

For each type of pest (weeds, insects, or diseases) scouted for, enter 1 for 

YES, and then ask column 2.

Column 2: Who Performed Scouting for Pests

Ask the respondent who did the majority of the scouting for weeds, insects, 

and diseases. If two or more people did equal amounts and there is no clearcut major "scouter", enter the lowest code of those scouting. If the operator, a 

partner, or a family member did the most scouting, enter code 1. If most was 

done by an employee (other than the operator, a partner, or a family member), 

enter code 2. If most of the scouting was done by an employee of a farm 

supply or chemical company, enter code 3. If a hired crop consultant or a 

commercial scouting service was used, enter code 4.

Item 8: Records Kept to Track Pests

Only organized, formal records, must be considered, not just notes jotted 

down on scraps of paper. It doesn’t matter who kept the records -- it can be 

the operator, an employee, scouting service or someone else. Determine if 

some type of formal written, electronic, or map records were kept for this 

operation on pest activities, counts, etc.

Important Note: If scouting was performed by someone outside of the farm 

operation (codes 3 or 4, above), some type of formal scouting records were 

most likely kept. If not, please make a note as to why no records were kept. 

Enter code 1 = YES., if records were kept on scouting.

Item 9: Scouting Data Compared to Published Thresholds

This question asks if the operator compared scouting data against published 

infestation threshold information to determine whether or not to make a 

chemical application to control the pest(s). The Athreshold@ generally relates 

to an economic Abreakeven point@. If the pest count from scouting is below 

the threshold number, it would likely cost more to apply the chemical than 
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the economic loss the pest is likely to cause through reduced crop yield or 

quality.

Item 10: Use of Field Mapping

Ask if this operation used field mapping of previous years’ pest problems to 

assist in making pest management decisions this year. The level of insect, 

weed and disease infestation is not always uniform throughout a orchard or 

field. Previous years’ mapping data can help an operator determine if it would 

be more cost efficient to treat portions of an orchard rather than the whole 

orchard. Operators sometimes use a topographic map from the National 

Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) for this purpose. There are also 

software programs available for field mapping. By identifying trouble spots, 

the map can help in making future pest management decisions. 

If this practice was used, enter code 1 = YES.

Item 11: Diagnostic Laboratory Used for Pest Identification

Diagnostic laboratories can assist producers in identifying pests found on 

their operations. Soil samples can be analyzed for the presence of soil borne 

pests and plant tissues can be analyzed to identify diseases and pathogens. 

Determine if the operator had such a biological analysis performed by a 

diagnostic laboratory for any fruit acres in 2015.

Item 12: Removed Crop Residues

By removing crop residue after a crop is harvested, a vital habitat for pests is 

removed. Methods of removal could include baling, burning, and/or 

removing debris from the orchard or field. If the operator used this practice to 

control pests, enter code 1 = YES.

Item 13: Maintained Ground Covers

Determine if any ground covers, mulches, or physical barriers were 

maintained in or around the fruit acres to reduce pest problems. If this 

practice was used, enter code 1 = YES.

Item 14: Applied or Released Beneficial Organisms

Beneficial organisms are predators, parasites or other natural enemies of crop 

pests. Some kinds can be purchased by operators and used on their orchards.

Find out if the operator purchased and released any beneficial species of 

insects.

Item 15: Used Biological Pest Controls
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Determine whether any floral lures, attractants, repellants, pheromone traps or

other biological pest controls were used on any fruit acres.

Item 16: Cultivation for Weed Control

Determine whether any fruit acres were cultivated for weed control during the 

growing season.

Item 17: Tilling, Chopping, Mowing, Burning

Eliminating habitat where pests can breed and grow is an important pest 

management strategy. Producers often mow or otherwise maintain areas 

immediately adjacent to orchards and fields to minimize the habitat where 

insects live.

Find out if practices such as mowing, burning, tilling, and chopping of field 

edges, lanes or roadways, were used to slow or control the spreading of pests 

into orchards.

Item 18: Cleaning of Equipment

Cleaning of equipment used in an orchard or field prevents carrying pests 

(such as weeds and disease) from one field to another. Find out if the operator 

cleaned the harvesting and/or tillage equipment to reduce or prevent the 

spread of pests.

Item 19: Irrigation

If any fruit acres were irrigated for the 2015 crop year, then answer YES and 

ask the water management question.

19. a. Water Management Practices

Water management practices which can be used to manage pests include 

irrigation scheduling, using irrigation methods which minimize plant tissue 

dryness, drainage control, and treatment of retention water. Find out if water 

management practices were used to control pests on any fruit acres.

Introduction
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Section F – Microbial Food Safety Practices

What is this Section for? 

I

In this part of the survey we are asking about all produce (fruit, berries, 

vegetables, herbs, tree nuts, dry beans, peas and lentils, peanuts, sprouts, and 

mushrooms), not just the target fruit as in the previous sections of the survey. 

Here we are looking at microbial food safety (bacteria, viruses, and 

parasites on produce that could cause human diseases). We are not looking at 

pesticides as a food safety issue. The respondent is to report for all acres in 

the United States, but not outside of the United States. The focus of this 

section is on the calendar year 2015, not the crop year.

This section examines microbial food safety practices that growers may be 

using and characteristics of their operation. 

Item 1: Produce Acres 

Record all produce, including fruit acres already reported. Do not consider 

acres in grain, pasture, etc. Record acres only once

If an operation has nonbearing production, do not include that in the acres 

used to grow produce. For example, if an apple grower has 500 acres of 

producing apples and 200 acres of apples that are not mature enough to 

harvest yet, the operation should put down 500 acres. 

Item 2: Multi-cropped Acres 

Multi-cropped acres are acres that are planted and harvested to one crop and 

then another crop is planted and harvested in the same field during the same 

season. If an operation has 100 acres with 50 acres in apple trees producing 

apples and 50 acres that are planted and harvested twice to other produce 

crop(s) during the season, total multi-cropped acres should be 150, not 100.

Only include acres multi-cropped with just produce. For example, if the 

respondent grows a 10 acre field of spinach and then replants the same 10 

acres to field corn, the respondent would indicate 10 acres only since the 

second crop is not produce. 

Item 3: Top Five Crops 
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This question is asking about the top five crops in terms of acres. A grower 

may have many more crops but here we are looking at just the top five based 

on acres. For crops we are looking for broad categories. For example, 

consider apples as a crop and do not differentiate gala apples and fuji apples 

as separate crops. Consider, for example, romaine and spinach as separate 

crops, not one aggregated leafy greens crop.

The columns asking about how the produce is sold also refers just to these 

top five commodities in terms of acres. 

Column 2. 

For acres, include multi-cropped acres in produce. Consider only bearing 

acreage. 

Column 3.

This includes u-pick, farm stands, farmers markets, community supported 

agriculture (CSA), etc. Selling at a food hub would be direct-to-consumer 

sales if the respondent is selling there directly or it could fit into the nondirect-to-consumers if s/he sells to the food hub which then acts as a 

wholesaler or aggregator. For direct-to-consumer sales, consider all product 

forms—fresh, fresh-cut, and processed.

Columns 4-6. Here consider all sales that are not direct-to- the final 

consumer. This would include sales of product in its fresh form to retail and 

foodservice buyers who will sell the product to the final consumers (column 

4). This would also include sales of fresh product to fresh-cut operations or 

sales of the respondent’s own fresh-cut production (column 5). In column 6 

the respondentshould report fresh produce s/he sellsto processing operations 

such as freezers, canners, juicers, etc. as well as any sales of his or her own 

processed production. This would also include processing such as making 

jams and jellies for example. If it is too early in the season for the respondent

to know yet how much of the crop will be sold as fresh, fresh-cut, or 

processed, the respondent should estimate based on previous experience. 

Column 4. Fresh market: any raw agricultural products sold as fresh.

Column 5 Fresh-cut fruit and vegetables or fresh-cut produce are fresh fruit 

and vegetables for human consumption that have been minimally processed 

and altered in form by peeling, slicing, chopping, shredding, coring, or 

trimming, with or without washing, prior to being packaged for use by the 
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consumer or a retail establishment. For example, bagged salads, baby cut 

carrots, sliced apples, bagged broccoli florets, etc. 

Column 6: 

Processing market is produce that the respondent processes or raw produce 

going to processing facilities such as canners, freezers, juicers, dryers.

For the rest of the survey we will be asking about the respondent’s total 

production, not just the top five crops.

Item 4: Average Produce Sales 

Here we are asking about the respondent’s average annual gross value of all 

produce sales for 2012-2014. Only consider produce sales even if the 

respondent has sales from other farm activities such as grain or livestock. 

This is being asked because the preliminary FSMA produce rule requires 

different actions from farms of different sizes based on sales. 

Item 5: Average Food Sales 

The preliminary produce rule has a qualified exemption for growers with 

food sales (not just produce sales), less than $500,000 if some marketing 

requirements are also met. Here the respondent needsto answer the question 

about sales including both produce and all other agricultural sales that are 

food. 

FDA defines food as “articles used for food or drink for man or other 

animals, and articles used for components of any such article.” This also 

includes seeds and beans used to grow sprouts. 

Item 6: Organic Acres: 

Record only certified organic acres. If the acres are organic, but are not 

certified do not include those acres.

Item 7: Livestock on Adjacent Land

This question is asking about the location of livestock relative to the 

respondent’s produce acreage. When considering land someone else 

operates, the term “adjacent” could mean livestock across the road but not 

down the road.

Commercial livestock do not include a small number of family pets, 4H or 
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Future Farmers of America livestock, etc. 

Item 7a: If the respondent has an operation with produce and livestock, and 

the livestock is adjacent to the produce, mark yes. If the respondent allows

livestock on their own produce acres to graze harvested fields or uses work 

animals in the field mark yes. 

Item 7b: If the respondent’s neighbor has livestock next to the respondent’s 

produce acres, mark yes.

Item 8: Produce Activities 

Here we are asking about different activities that could be applied to the 

respondent’s produce, whether the respondent does it or another firm does it. 

We are also asking about location of the activity and whether the grower has

an ownership interest in that activity. By ownership interest we mean does 

the respondent own or have some ownership of the operation that does the 

activity. 

For example, if the respondent harvests his or her own produce, you would 

mark ‘Yes’ on row B, column 1. If the respondent does the harvesting you 

would mark yes in column 4—harvesting is owned, or at least part owned, by 

the operation. If the respondent hires another firm to harvest the produce or a 

fresh-cut processor does all the harvesting and the respondent has no 

ownership (don’t have a part ownership in the harvesting firm or fresh-cut 

processor) you would not mark yes.

For co-ops, if the crop is packed and stored by the co-op, mark that the

respondent has an ownership interest in these activities. 

For each row, mark all that apply. For row D, if the respondent packs some 

produce on his or her own operation and some in a packinghouse some 

distance from the operation, you could mark yes in columns 2 and 3. 

For another example, the respondent may only field pack 5% of his or her

output and the rest is packed in a packinghouse. In column 1 you should 

mark both “Field pack” and “Pack (other than field pack).” 

Field packing is a packing method in which all harvesting, grading, and 

packing into containers suitable for sale are performed at the same time in the 

field or orchard. For example, strawberries are field packed when a harvester 

clips the berry and puts it immediately into a plastic clamshell and then into a 

shipping box. The clamshell is the container the consumer will see. Lettuce 
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that is field packed is harvested, a few outer leaves trimmed off, wrapped, 

and put into a carton that will go to the retail or food service buyer. The 

carton is not what the final consumer will see. Packing potatoes in the field in 

a burlap bag is field packing if the potatoes are sold to consumers in the 

burlap bag. Otherwise the burlap bag is just a container to transport the 

potatoes to the packing house. 

If a grower has lettuce that is going to a fresh-cut operation, you should mark 

‘Yes’ in row H, column 1. Remember we are asking if the respondent’s 

produce goes through a particular activity. Then in columns 2-4 we 

determine where this activity occurs and whether the grower has an 

ownership interest in the process. 

Make sure you do not record “Other processing” in the “Fresh cut” row. 

Item 9: Marketing 

We are trying to understand who markets the produce. If the produce is sold

direct-to-consumer the respondent is obviously selling product themselves. 

Do not include direct-to-consumer sales in the answer. For sales that are not 

direct-to-consumer there are two broad options. Some growers will do their 

own marketing (generally a vertically integrated firm involved in growing, 

packing, and marketing) or they could let someone else market for them (such 

as a shipper, sales agent, marketer, etc.). If a respondent does both, mark the 

method for the majority of sales. 

Item 10: Food Safety Plan 

This question is specifically about a food safety plan that covers the growing 

operation and any harvesting the grower may do. 

A food safety plan identifies how the respondent plans to deal with any 

potential microbial food safety risk on his/her operation. At a minimum, a 

food safety plan would include these basic components: an assessment of 

microbial risk at an individual operation, identification of practices in place 

to reduce food safety risk, and a description of how practices are 

implemented. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

Harmonized GAP audit definition of a written food safety plan is: The food 

safety plan shall identify all locations of the operation and products covered 
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by the plan. The plan shall address potential physical, chemical, and 

biological hazards and hazard control procedures, including monitoring, 

verification and recordkeeping, for the following areas: water, soil 

amendments, field sanitation, production environment, and worker practices.

A food safety program could be “following Good Agricultural Practices 

(GAPs),” The food safety plan would be a detailed program of how the 

respondent plans to comply with GAPs.

Item 11: Food Safety Plan Inclusion 

Most people will say they have one food safety plan for their produce. A 

grower could use the same general food safety plan on all his commodities 

(although they may have slightly different specifications for different 

commodities). But we want to leave open the possibility that a grower could 

have more than one. For example, a grower with many types of produce 

could have a food safety plan but decide that since some commodities are 

almost always eaten cooked or are going to a canning operation which will 

have a kill step, that a different food safety plan, or perhaps no food safety 

plan at all, would be appropriate for those crops. Or a grower could have a 

different food safety plan for one area of their operation for one buyer who 

requires a particular food safety plan and/or audit or requires something 

beyond the grower’s regular food safety plan (perhaps, additional water 

testing, raw product testing, etc.). This question refers specifically to food 

safety plans that cover the growing operation and any harvesting the grower 

may do. 

Item 12: Food Safety Audits 

A third-party audit for microbial food safety involves having someone else 

(not the grower or the buyer) come to the operation to audit the operation to 

assess whether the grower is following his or her food safety plan. This could 

include a USDA AMS employee or someone from a private company such as 

Primus or Safe Qualify Food (SQF). 

Exclude:

 Self-audits

 An audit for sustainability or for any organic program (For example:
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the National Organic Program) 

 State public health or FDA regulatory audits.

Include: 

 Group auditssuch as a Global GAP audit, perhaps in a tree fruit coop, 

where the operator is audited every year by the coop but only some years by 

the Global GAP auditor. Mark this as a third-party audit whether the operator 

was audited by the Global GAP auditor for this year or not. 

 If the respondent had an audit in 2014 but it covers the 2015 crop, be 

sure to mark that s/he had an audit.

Item 12a: Most Recent Audit

It is possible that a grower might not have a third-party audit for the 2015 

year but may have had one in a previous year. Record when the respondent 

had the last audit. If the grower never had an audit, check N/A.

Item 13: Types of Audits

There are various types of third-party microbial food safety audits. A firm 

could get one or all of them depending on the firm and its various activities. 

In some cases a firm would get separate audits (one audit for the farm and 

one audit for the packinghouse) and in some cases an audit would be more 

comprehensive and cover several types of audits listed in item 13 (for 

example, one audit that would cover both the farm and the packinghouse). 

Mark all audits that cover a grower’s operation whether they were separate or 

joint audits. 

Item 14: Number of Audits

A firm could have many audits. For example, if the operation had one 

packinghouse audit from a firm listed in row A and 20 ranch audits from the 

same firm, mark 21 audits in row A. In addition, a firm may have a Primus 

GFS audit (row A) and a California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement audit 

(row E). Mark all that apply. 

Audits such as Global GAP and Primus GFS (row A) are benchmarked to the 

Global Food Safety Initiative.

Audits such as Primus or AIB (row B) may be done by the same firms as the 

previously mentioned audits, but they are not benchmarked to the Global 
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Food Safety Initiative.

An audit addendum (row C) refers to a particular audit a buyer may want. 

For example, certain large buyers (retail, food service, or fresh-cut) will 

accept a previously mentioned audit but may want a few extra features and 

will have an audit company create an addendum of a standard audit. So when 

the grower gets a Primus GFS audit, for example, for an additional fee the 

auditor will also audit to the requirements unique to the addendum. 

A stand-alone buyer-specific audit (row D) is an audit developed by a buyer, 

such as a particular retail or foodservice buyer that a grower needsin order to 

sell to that firm. This is in contrast to the audit addendum which is just a 

little more added to a standard audit that growers may be able to use for many 

different buyers. 

Commodity-specific audits (row E-G) which require audits to confirm that 

members of an organization such as the California Leafy Greens Marketing 

Agreement are complying with all the requirements. These audits are 

conducted by state Departments of Agriculture but overseen by USDA 

Agricultural Marketing Service. It is also possible for a grower that does not 

belong to one of these organizations to pay an auditor to audit their operation 

to the same standards. 

USDA’s audit service (row H) can audit to various standards and may be 

administered by a State Department of Agriculture. 

Make sure that the respondent does not try to include an organic audit in the 

food safety audit table. 

Item 15: Cost of Audits

Here we are asking about the costs of the audits listed in item 14 that the 

respondent paid for. If somebody else paid for audits besides the grower, 

write a note. 

Do not include the costs of preparing for the audits and the costs of 

implementing changes later. In some cases the audit bill will come with 

travel costs for the auditors included; in that case include the travel costs.

Do not include costs of organic audits.

Item 16: Water tests and Treatments

The major source of water for the produce operation is the focus here. This

considers water the grower may use in production, harvest, and any post-
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harvest activities the grower may have. 

Column 1

If the respondent uses water for the purposes listed in rows A-C, mark ‘1’.

In this question we are not considering water for drinking or hand washing.

Column 2

The respondent should consider all water sources used on their operation. 

Enter only one code. If two sources each comprise half of the water use, 

select the one that comes first in the list of Water Source Code. 

Column 3

Record the frequency code.

Column 4

There are many water standards a grower may use and they could be different 

for different uses. 

1. Normal or expected range based on historic water samples.

Growers could just say they test the water and if it is within the range they 

have used historically then they consider this good enough for their purposes. 

2. 1986 and 2012 EPA recreational water standard. The 1986 EPA 

recreational water standard requires that water must have less than or equal to 

126 Most Probable Number (MPN) or Colony Forming Units (CFU) of 

generic E. coli per 100 ml of water (rolling geometric mean n=5) and less 

than or equal to 235 MPN/100 ml of water for any single sample. The 2012 

EPA recreational water standard requires that the statistical threshold value 

(STV) of samples must have less than or equal to 410 CFU of generic E. coli

per 100 ML of water OR geometric mean of samples is less than or equal to 

126 CFU of generic E. coli per 100 mL of water.

3. LGMA standard for water that does not touch the harvested part 

of the crop. The 1986 EPA recreational water standard but with a maximum 

of 576 MPN (235 for water that touches the harvested part of the crop) or 

CFU of generic E. coli per 100 mL 

4. Maximum of 1,000 generic E. coli CFU/ml (colony forming units 

per milliliter)
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5. Maximum of 500 generic E. coli CFU/ml (colony forming units per 

milliliter)

6. EPA drinking water standard which is no generic E. coli.

7. Reclaimed water standard. Tail water is water running off the 

lower end of a field as part of normal irrigation practices that is collected and 

reused.

8. Don’t Know

9. Other. This option could include things such as a standard for treated 

waste water

Column 5

Mark only one code.

Item 17: Number of Water Tests

Observe the enumerator actions. Record the total number of water tests on 

all water sources, not just the largest sources included in Item 16. Include any tests 

on reused or recirculated water.

Item 18: Cost of Water tests

Record the cost of all water tests, not just the tests on the largest source of 

water. Just report water tests the grower paid for in item 17. Include the cost of any 

tests on reused or recirculated water. Include supplies and lab costs (including any 

shipping charges). Exclude labor costs for staff to take water samples.

Item 19: Cost of Water Treatments

Report the cost of water treatments for all water used in the respondent’s

operation, not just for the largest source. Include any treatments on reused or 

recirculated water. Include supplies and lab costs (including any shipping charges). 

Exclude labor costs for staff to take water samples or treat water.

Item 20: Manure

We are only considering animal manure products. 

Column 1. There are several types of manure products that could be used.

Most are easily understood. One product may be less familiar. Growers could be 

using manure treated with a physical or chemical process such as pasteurization, 

heat drying, alkali stabilization. This could be pelletized chicken litter, 
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pasteurized cow manure, etc.

Column 2. We want to know if the compost is made by a method validated 

by a scientifically recognized, controlled microbial process that is actively managed 

and meets time/temperature requirements from the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) (part 503). The EPA standard would include compost that meets one 

of the following definitions for static aerated pile composting and turned composting 

(also known as windrow composting). Static aerated pile composting maintains 

aerobic (i.e., oxygenated) conditions at a minimum of 131 F for three days and is 

followed by adequate curing, which includes proper insulation. Turned composting

maintains aerobic conditions at a minimum of 131 F for 15 days with a minimum of 

five turnings, and is followed by adequate curing, which includes proper insulation. 

The California compost requirements, the California Leafy Greens 

Marketing Agreement (LGMA), and the National Organic Program compost 

requirements meet the minimum EPA rule. Other standards may meet, exceed, or 

fall short of the minimum EPA rule. 

Column 3

There are several ways to document that manure was adequately treated to 

reduce pathogens. Mark all that apply. These include:

Certificate of Conformance: A compost product may also come with a 

Certificate of Conformance from the vendor showing that the compost conforms 

to the standards it purports to meet. This could be a Certificate of Conformance 

for the EPA compost standard or it could be a Certificate of Conformance for

some other standard.

Certificate of Analysis: A compost product may also come with a 

Certificate of Analysis for microbial testing to indicate whether the compost has 

been adequately treated to reduce pathogens. 

An organic compost product may be approved by an organic certifying 

agent.

Item 21: Preharvest Assessment

Mark yes or no. Respondents may also think of this as the walk through 

before harvest to look for microbial food safety problems (evidence of animal 
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intrusion, etc.). It may be done by the operator or other person such as a custom 

harvester. 

Item 22: Length of Harvest 

Record the number of days of harvest. Respondent should consider all of 

their produce commodities. People may harvest one crop, have a break in the 

harvest, and then harvest another crop. Just include the days when they are actually 

harvesting; do not include intervals when no harvesting is occurring.

Item 23: Packing/Packaging

We do not think most people are going to distinguish between packing 

and packaging. But just in case they do. Packing typically means putting produce 

into shipping containers. Packaging typically means putting produce into consumer 

containers (i.e., berries in clamshells, cherry tomatoes in pint baskets, apples in 3 lb. 

poly bags) that may or may not then be packed into larger shipping containers.

Check ‘YES’ or ‘NO’.

If ‘NO’, skip to item 26

Item 23 a: Length of Packing Season? Record the number of days in the 

packing season. Just include the days when they are actually packing; do not include 

intervals when no packing is occurring.

Item 23b. Field Pack Some produce could be packed in the field and some 

in a packinghouse; if any is packed in the field mark yes here.

Item 23c. Packing House/Shed If any produce is packed in a packing 

house or shed mark ‘yes’. If ‘no,’ go question 24. Some people may pack in a drive 

way, parking lot, etc. While this is not a packing house/shed, it is not field packing 

so mark yes here.

Item 23 d. Describe the Structure. Check all descriptions that fit 

packing/packaging the grower does in a packinghouse or shed.

Item 24: Tools 

Record how often tools, machinery, work surfaces, containers etc. that are 

used in harvesting, packing or other postharvest activities are cleaned and/or 

sanitized and if they contain certain types of food contact surfaces. 

Mark the items the respondent uses and controls.
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If a custom harvester is used, Tools Used for Harvesting and/or Field 

Packing and Machinery Used for Harvesting and/or Field Packing (rows A and B) 

would not be checked YES in column 1. If a grower harvests some crops and uses a 

custom harvester for other crops, these same two rows could be checked YES 

depending on the respondent’s activities. Tools used for harvesting and/or field 

packing and/or Machinery used for Harvesting and/or Field Packing (row A and B) 

would be checked YES.

If the grower does not directly control the packing (for example, if s/he is a 

member of a cooperative that packs the produce or produce is packed by someone 

else for a fee), s/he should not answer this line even though they may know the 

answer.

In some cases produce is harvested directly into bins that go to the 

packinghouse. The respondent would mark “YES” in column 1 for Reusable 

containers or bins used only to transport the crop from the field to a packinghouse

(row F). In some cases, such as tree fruit harvesting, fruit could be harvested into 

canvas bags which are then emptied into bins that go to the packinghouse. In this 

case, the canvas bag would fall under Reusable containers or bins used during 

harvest (row E) and the bins that go from the orchard to the packinghouse would be 

Reusable containers or bins used only to transport the crop from the field to a 

packinghouse (row F).

If someone uses Reusable containers or bins used only to transport the crop 

from the field to a packinghouse, mark yes in column 1 if the respondent controls the 

containers. If the containers belong to a separate firm such as a packinghouse, the 

grower does not necessarily control the containers and would not mark yes in column 

1.

Column 2

Cleaned is washing, rinsing or brushing off debris. Sanitized is disinfecting. 

If an operation harvests and or packs more than one commodity, there could be a lot 

of variety within each row. If that is the case, in Column 2 select the item within 

each row that is cleaned the most frequently and indicate the frequency code for that 

item.

Column 3
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Sanitized is disinfecting. In Column 3 select the item within each row that is 

sanitized the most frequently and indicate the frequency code for that item. The item 

that the respondent is thinking about in column 2 and 3 could be different in each 

row.

Column 4

A food contact surface is any surface that directly touches the commodity. 

For example, a container carrying produce in from the field to a packinghouse would 

have a food contact surface. Consider whether any item in a row has a food contact 

surface made of foam, cardboard, wood, carpeting, canvas or paper.

Item 25: Cost of Cleaning and Sanitizing

This question is asking about the total cost of the cleaning and/or sanitizing 

of tools, machinery, work surfaces, and reusable containers or bins in item 24, not 

just the most frequently cleaned or sanitized ones. Supplies could include soaps, 

chlorine, brushes, etc. Do not include labor.

Item 26: Designated Food Safety Employee 

Mark YES or NO. For some operations there may be no one in charge of 

microbial food safety. In a small operation it may be the owner who spends just a 

share of his or her time on microbial food safety. For large operations, this may be 

the head of the food safety department who works full time on microbial food safety. 

Item 26a: Percent of Time 

Record the percent of time spent on food safety. Respondents should give a 

best guess. 

Item 27: People Involved in Food Safety 

Record the number of all food safety employees. In some operations, the 

owner will say that everyone has a food safety responsibility. We are not 

looking for the total number of people working on the operation. We are 

looking for people that have an important responsibility for day-to-day food 

safety on the operation. They do not have to be full-time on food safety 

during their season. Q27a addresses how many of these people are full time 

on food safety during the season. Include any employees working on the 

food safety documentation. Include harvest foreman if they have an 
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important role in day-to-day food safety. Exclude managers who may have 

some food safety role but it isn’t on day-to-day operations. Exclude any 

workers who are involved in cleaning/sanitizing tools, equipment, or 

containers with food contact surfaces. Exclude any workers involved in 

cleaning toilets, etc. Exclude people who are only involved in food quality or 

food assurance (size, color, etc.) instead of microbial food safety. If someone 

works on food safety but half of their time is spent on quality assurance, 

include that person. Exclude food safety staff exclusively involved in postharvest food safety activities. 

Item27a. Full Time Employees

Record the number of employees who are full time during the season on food 

safety. 

Item 28: Consultant 

Mark YES or NO. A grower might hire a PAID food safety consultant to 

provide food safety services. Do not include others such as vendors of 

machinery that might also provide ideas about cleaning/sanitizing practices, 

etc. Do not include any food safety advice the respondent might get from 

his/her shipper, sales agent, or coop. Do not include any food safety services 

the respondent receivesfrom a buyer such as a retailer or foodservice buyer. . 

Item 29: Harvest Crew 

ERS is interested in the number of people harvesting (not doing other field 

operations) on the respondent’s operation in 2015 who may have been trained 

in food safety practices. 

Column 1

Record the type of people the operation has harvesting. Include pick-yourown customers as “harvesters.” Earlier we used the term u-pick but we are 

referring to the same type of operation.

Column 2

Record how many people worked on the operation during 2015. For a pick-
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your-own operation this will be the number of customers. The number of 

people that might be harvesting at any one time could be much smaller.

Column 3

Record how many of these people may have been trained in food safety by 

the operation. If someone says they used a contract harvest crew make sure 

they don’t say they trained workers unless they actually did the training 

instead of the contract harvest crew owner.

Column 4

Record the average minutes of microbial food safety that were provided for 

workers. Be careful to not record all training, just the training that pertains to 

microbial food safety. 

Column 5

Record how much the operator paid for training materials. If the firm trained 

their own workers with firm staff, do not include the cost of the staff. Do not 

include the cost of the time harvest workers spent in training. If the firm 

hired an outside trainer do include those costs. Include costs to instruct 

consumers at u-pick about safety while on the operation. This could include 

signage. It may be difficult for people to estimate the cost for training 

materials. The costs may be relatively small in some cases and hard to collect 

numbers from different parts of the operation. Respondents should estimate

to the best of their ability.

Item 30: Toilets and Hand washing 

ERS is seeking information about toilets and hand washing sinks for harvest 

crews, not other field workers. This could be portable facilities (for example, 

port-a-potties) or it could be toilet and hand washing facilities in a nearby 

building.

Item 31: Runoff

If someone claims they have no potential for uncontrolled water runoff, 

mark other and write a note. 

Item 32: Animal Monitoring. Mark “YES” or “NO.” This could be 
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monitoring on a pre-determined schedule or less frequent checking.

Item 33: Methods of Animal Control: Check all that apply even if they 

were not installed specifically or solely to reduce animal intrusion (e.g. 

fencing or buffer). 

Item 34: FSMA: 

Check yes if the respondent has heard of FSMA, regardless of level of 

knowledge.

Item 35: Source of FSMA Information: 

Check all that apply. 
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Conclusion - Back Cover

Survey Results

After completing the interview, offer the results of the survey. Your Survey 

Statistician will explain which publications from Headquarters or from your 

Regional Office will include the chemical usage data from FCUS. The 

Survey Statistician will instruct you how to record requests for information 

from each respondent, including any Release order forms need to be filled 

out. 

If the respondent would like a copy of the survey results, enter a code A1@ in 

cell 099.

Ending Time

Record the ending time (in military time) of the interview in cell number

005.We need correct beginning and ending times to accurately calculate the 

average interview time for this survey. One use of the average interview time 

is its inclusion in the burden statement. OMB requires that the average 

response time include refused interviews.

For interviews that require multiple contacts (personal or phone), you should 

write the date and time the interview began in a note on the face page near the 

Beginning Time question. Accumulate the hours and minutes of interview 

time and write the total on the back page near the Ending Time question. This 

will enable the office editor to record the total interview time in the 006 box.

Exclude the time you spend reviewing the questionnaire or verifying 

calculations by yourself after you have completed the interview. Be sure the 

ending time is after the beginning time entered on the face page.

Record Use

If the respondent used records to report pesticide and/or insecticide data 

during the interview, enter a code 1 in cell 064. 
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Supplement Use

Record the number of supplements used to complete the interview in the 

designated cell. These items provide a means to check for misplaced or lost 

supplement sheets during the computer edit. Be sure all of the supplements 

have complete identification and are inside the questionnaire before mailing 

or turning it over to a supervisor. 

Record the respondent's name and phone number.

Response Codes

When you complete the interview, enter the appropriate RESPONSE CODE

in the 9901 cell.

Code 1 = Complete

Code 2 = Refusal

Code 3 = Inaccessible

Code 4 = Office Hold

Respondent Codes

The RESPONDENT CODES identify the person who was interviewed. 

Enter the code identifying the person who provided most of the data in cell 

9902.

Code 1 = Operator or Manager

Code 2 = Operator's Spouse

Code 3 = Accountant or Bookkeeper

Code 4 = Partner

Code 9 = Other - Someone other than those listed in codes 1 - 4

Mode Codes

The MODE CODES identifies the how the interview was conducted. Enter 

the mode code which best describes how the data was collected in cell 9903.

Code 2 = Telephone

Code 3 = Face To Face
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Enumerator

Sign the questionnaire in the S/E name box and record your enumerator ID 

number in cell 098.

Date

Record the date the questionnaire was completed. Enter the date in 

MMDDYY format on the lines provided in cell 9910. For example, if the 

interview was completed on November 6, 2015, enter 11 06 15 in the date 

cell.

Final Review

Review the entire questionnaire before forwarding it to your Supervisor or the 

Regional office. Make sure all items are complete, including 'Yes' and 'No' 

boxes checked, yes boxes coded with a 1, and dashes (C) in cells when the 

response is 'None' or 'No' as appropriate. Make sure notes are present and 

complete for unusual situations.