36886 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 113 / Monday, June 12, 2000 / Notices

Office of Management and Budget,

Washington, DC 20503.

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval. All comments will

also become a matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, D.C. on June 2,

2000.

Timothy J. Galvin,

Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service,

and Vice President, Commodity Credit

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 00–14663 Filed 6–9–00; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Notice of Intent to Extend and Revise

a Currently Approved Information

Collection

AGENCY: National Agricultural Statistics

Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. No. 104–13) and Office of

Management and Budget regulations at

5 CFR part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August

29, 1995), this notice announces the

intent of the National Agricultural

Statistics Service (NASS) to extend and

revise a currently approved information

collection, the Agricultural Surveys

Program.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by August 16, 2000 to be

assured of consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Contact Rich Allen, Associate

Administrator, National Agricultural

Statistics Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue

SW, Room 4117 South Building,

Washington, D.C. 20250–2000, (202)

720–4333.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Agricultural Surveys Program.

OMB Control Number: 0535–0213.

Expiration Date of Approval:

November 30, 2000.

Type of Request: Intent to extend and

revise a currently approved information

collection.

Abstract: The National Agricultural

Statistics Service is responsible for

collecting and issuing state and national

estimates of crop and livestock

production, grain stocks, farm numbers,

land values, on-farm pesticide usage,

and pest crop management practices.

The Agricultural Surveys Program

contains a series of surveys that obtains

basic agricultural data from farmers and

ranchers throughout the Nation for

preparing agricultural estimates and

forecasts of crop acreage, yield, and

production; stocks of grains and

soybeans; hog and pig numbers; sheep

inventory and lamb crop; cattle

inventory; and cattle on feed. Grazing

fees, land values, pesticide usage, and

pest management practices data are also

collected.

Uses of the statistical information are

extensive and varied. Producers, farm

organizations, agribusinesses, state and

national farm policy makers, and

government agencies are important

users of these statistics. Agricultural

statistics are used to plan and

administer other, related Federal and

state programs in such areas as

consumer protection, conservation,

foreign trade, education, and recreation.

One important modification to the

program is the addition of a Monthly

Hog Survey. NASS was directed to

publish on a monthly basis the Hogs

and Pigs Inventory Report with the

passage by Congress and signature of the

President of H.R. 1906, the FY2000

Department of Agriculture budget. The

Monthly Hog Survey will supplement

the Hog Survey Program currently

conducted as part of the Quarterly

Agricultural Surveys. The monthly

surveys will use a shorter version of the

quarterly questionnaire and will be

conducted eight times a year, during the

months between the Quarterly Hog

Surveys. The sampling frame for the

monthly program will be hog owners

who reported breeding females on the

December Quarterly Hog Survey.

A second revision to the program is

the addition of questions regarding

damage to crops caused by wildlife,

methods being used to reduce these

losses, and the cost of preventative

measures. These additional questions

will be asked only in January 2001.

Aggregated totals will be provided to the

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service action agency,

Wildlife Services, to help identify and

monitor crop losses caused by wildlife.

The third revision is the

discontinuance of the Fall Area Survey.

A reduced sample of the 1999 Fall Area

Surveys respondents will be selected for

an Integrated Pest Management Survey

(IPM). This survey will be conducted

only in January 2001 to collect

information on IPM practices formerly

collected as part of the Fall Area Survey.

This is the fourth year of the USDA plan

to measure the general adoption of IPM

practices for the Nation’s agricultural

production.

The Agricultural Surveys Program has

approval from OMB for a 3-year period.

NASS intends to request that the

program be approved for another 3

years. These data are collected under

the authority of 7 U.S.C. 2204(a).

Individually identifiable data collected

under this authority are governed by

Section 1770 of the Food Security Act

of 1985, 7 U.S.C. 2276, which requires

USDA to afford strict confidentiality to

non-aggregated data provided by

respondents.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 15 minutes per

response.

Respondents: Farms.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

547,000.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 139,000 hours.

Copies of this information collection

and related instructions can be obtained

without charge from Ginny McBride, the

Agency OMB Clearance Officer, at (202)

720–5778.

Comments

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology. Comments may be sent to:

Ginny McBride, Agency OMB Clearance

Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room

4162 South Building, Washington, D.C.

20250–2000. All responses to this notice

will become a matter of public record

and be summarized in the request for

OMB approval.

Signed at Washington, D.C., June 1, 2000.

Rich Allen,

Associate Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–14729 Filed 6–9–00; 8:45 am]

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