United States 

Department of

Agriculture

National

Agricultural

Statistics

Service

Research and

Development Division

Washington DC 20250

RDD Research Report

Number RDD-10-03

December 2010

Impact of the Screening 

Procedures of the June 

Area Survey on the 

Number of Farms 

Estimates

Denise A. Abreu

Jaki S. McCarthy

Leslie A. Colburn

This report was prepared for limited distribution to the research community outside the United 

States Department of Agriculture. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the 

National Agricultural Statistics Service or of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The National Agricultural Statistics Service uses its annual June Area Survey (JAS) as the 

vehicle to generate annual estimates of farm numbers. A farm is defined as a place from which 

$1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been 

sold, during the year, and the computation includes any government agricultural payments 

received. Every five years, the annual numbers of farms estimates are compared to ones obtained 

from the quinquennial Census of Agriculture (conducted for all years ending in 2 and 7). The

annual numbers have been declining steadily between censuses, especially between the 2002 and 

2007 Censuses. Furthermore, they have been considerably lower than farm numbers from the 

census, and the difference cannot simply be attributed to sampling error. This trend has 

prompted concerns leading to a sequence of actions intended to address and resolve the current 

issues with farm number estimation. Additionally, results from a 2007 qualitative study revealed 

that agricultural operations were being incorrectly classified as non-agricultural during the 

screening procedures of the June Area Survey. 

In an attempt to get a better understanding of misclassification on the JAS, a post-June Survey 

intensive screening called the Farm Numbers Research Project (FNRP) was undertaken in the 

fall of 2009. The study‟s main objective was to determine the extent of misclassification 

resulting from the operational screening procedures for the June survey and its immediate impact 

on number of farms estimation. The study focused primarily on the newly rotated-in segments 

which comprised 20 percent of the 2009 JAS sample. It targeted three types of tracts in these

segments: 1) non-agricultural tracts; 2) agricultural tracts that refused to participate in the JAS 

and were estimated; and 3) agricultural tracts that were inaccessible in June and were estimated. 

Respondents completed a short and simple questionnaire.

The primary purpose of the survey was to verify farm/non-farm status, utilizing a survey 

instrument that contained questions similar to those on the JAS screening form. The study

introduced the concepts of subsampling and subtracts, which are not routinely part of the JAS. 

Also, it was believed that farming operations might be missed during the operational screening 

process because enumerators are instructed to visually inspect residential areas of one-half acre 

or less per parcel for any agricultural activity. For these small parcels, if there is no clear 

indication of agricultural activity, the tract is identified as non-agricultural and no JAS

questionnaire is completed. In order to be able to assess the potential impact of this operational 

process for the FNRP study, enumerators were instructed to ignore the 1⁄2-acre rule.

The evaluation of inaccessible and refusal tracts was essential since the farm status of these tracts

from the JAS is based solely on observed and/or estimated data. Based on the results of the 

study, the operational JAS slightly underestimated (by 5,210) the number of farms from these 

tracts. Even with the small net change in number of farms resulting from re-screening these 

estimated agricultural tracts, the effort was worthwhile in confirming that there was indeed not a 

huge problem with them. Also, the additional time spent re-screening them proved to be very 

beneficial in converting refusals and contacting the inaccessible ones. 

Of more significance from the FNRP results, though, was the finding that the operational 
screening efforts have resulted in misclassification of a substantial number of non-agricultural 

tracts. Tracts identified as non-agricultural in June expanded to 576,613 additional farming 

operations as a direct result of the FNRP re-screening effort. An even more surprising finding 

was that the vast majority of these farms were found in June non-agricultural tracts identified as 

having no potential for agriculture.

The results also showed that the JAS is probably not missing a high number of farming 

operations as a result of the 1⁄2-acre rule, since a minute number of farming operations in the 

FNRP sample had 1⁄2 acre or less inside the June tract. The subsampling strategy employed 

showed that over half of the farming operations found had only one subtract in the sampled June 

tract – indicating a proper parceling of operating arrangements using the operational procedures.

Another supposition of this study was that the JAS was missing farms in agri-urban or 

commercial strata. Although the JAS is indeed missing some farms in this type of stratum, these 

do not constitute a large percentage of the total farms missed or misclassified. However, the 

findings were consistent with expectations that mostly smaller operations are being missed or 

misclassified, since additional ones identified through the re-screening are primarily small, with 

less than 24 acres in the entire operation and a value of production or sales less than $10,000. 

The overall results of this study point directly to potential improvements in the screening 

questionnaire and to enhanced enumerator training guidelines. The results are very encouraging, 

suggesting that with more time and resources a better quality screening of the non-agricultural 

tracts can be implemented, resulting in the proper identification of more farming operations.
RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Determine the agricultural/non-agricultural status of each tract by asking the 

screening questions rather than by observation. It is important that all tract operators be 

questioned whether or not there is any agricultural potential in the tract.

2. Add a question/column to the screening questionnaire similar to Question 1 of the 

Land Utilization Survey: Did you own, rent, or operate land with potential for 

agricultural production? Results of the FNRP showed that close to 63.3 percent of 

agricultural operations answered „yes‟ to this question, indicating that potentially more 

non-agricultural tracts could be identified as agricultural during the screening. If a 

question is not added, emphasize to enumerators and office staff that this should not be 

determined by enumerator observation (if at all possible) since land operated outside the 

segment cannot be observed. 

3. Retain the “1⁄2-acre rule.” It appears that relatively few farm operations will be missed, 

compared to the gain in resource savings, by continuing to employ the “1⁄2-acre rule.”

4. Provide better training for enumerators and field office (FO) survey administrators 

concerning screening procedures. This should be a standard part of the mid-year 

training school. Additionally, emphasize that field enumerators and FO staff should

utilize all tools available (including asking questions of the respondent‟s neighbors) to 

gain valuable information about agricultural producers in the segment. This way, 

enumerators will essentially ask for information about every person in the segment; 

thereby accounting for every farm in the segment. Training should emphasize proper 

drawing of boundaries and proper allocation of ownership/operator definition and 

identification. FO staff noted that when they conducted the follow-up interviews, it was 

obvious that several mistakes were made in June in identifying tract operators and/or tract 

boundaries. They found that the majority of wooded areas were not being allocated to the 

proper tract and/or owner/operator. Strengthen the section in the Survey Administration 

Manual which refers to screening and include more examples. This recommendation is 

already being adopted by the Survey Administration Branch.

5. Extend the screening period to start several weeks earlier than the usual start date to 

facilitate more intensive screening FNRP results showed that this may reduce the 

number of refusal and inaccessible tracts for which data are estimated. Ensure that all 

FOs prescreen new segments and, for June 2010, potentially prescreen “unknown” 

operators from older segments. This recommendation was implemented beginning in 

June 2010.

6. Obtain better quality information on the non-agricultural tracts in order to facilitate 

more accurate screening. Results of the post-screening showed that the information 

obtained from the First American Spatial Solutions was useful to the states in 

accomplishing this. Additionally, states made use of Google maps as an additional 
source of name and address information for non-agricultural tracts. FOs were able to 

categorize numerous office hold cases more accurately and many were classified as 

farms. The methods the FOs used in the FNRP should be reviewed to see if those used 

by individual states could be used more broadly.

7. Conduct a yearly un-duplication review of all the June Area Survey (JAS) tracts 

(agricultural and non-agricultural). There were several FNRP subtracts which were 

linked to other JAS operations located in different segments or tracts. Conducting an unduplication review could help identify the actual farm status of these non-agricultural 

tract operators. The name and address information on the non-agricultural tracts could be

used by record linkage techniques to attempt to match them to existing agricultural tracts. 

If these match to other tracts on the JAS, their status could be updated from nonagricultural to agricultural. 

8. Evaluate the results from this study for their potential impact on the Census of 

Agriculture number of farms estimates.

9. Use FNRP to enhance regression models being developed by the NASS/NISS1team to 

adjust for misclassification in the JAS during non-census years. Currently, the model 

uses 2007 probabilities of misclassification with a verification of the status of the nonagricultural tracts using Census of Agriculture information.

 

1

NASS has a two year collaborative research program with the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) 

called the Cross-Sector Research in Residence Program. This program is composed of three academic-government 

teams focusing on important NASS research issues. One of the teams was entrusted to work on potential 

improvements to the methodology and design of the June Area Survey.
1

Impact of the Screening Procedures of the June Area Survey on the Number 

of Farms Estimates

Denise A. Abreu2

Jaki S. McCarthy

Leslie A. Colburn

Abstract

The National Agricultural Statistics Service uses its annual June Area Survey (JAS) as the 

vehicle to generate annual estimates of farm numbers. These estimates are compared to ones

obtained from the quinquennial Census of Agriculture (conducted for all years ending in 2 and 

7). The annual estimate of the number of farms from the JAS has been declining steadily 

between censuses, especially between the 2002 and 2007 Censuses. Furthermore, these have 

been considerably lower than farm numbers from the census and the difference cannot simply be 

attributed to sampling error. Some insight into this issue was provided when the 2007 

Classification Error Survey, a census follow-up qualitative study, revealed that agricultural 

operations were being incorrectly classified as non-agricultural during the screening procedures 

of the JAS. 

Therefore, to determine the extent of misclassification resulting from the operational screening 

procedures for the June survey and its immediate impact on number of farms estimation, a postJune Survey intensive screening called the Farm Numbers Research Project was undertaken in 

the fall of 2009. The study focused primarily on the newly rotated-in segments which comprised

20 percent of the 2009 JAS sample. It targeted non-agricultural, refusal and inaccessible tracts in 

these newly rotated-in segments. The primary purpose of the survey was to verify farm/nonfarm status, utilizing a survey instrument that contained questions similar to those on the JAS

screening form. The study introduced the concepts of subsampling and subtracts, which are not 

routinely part of the JAS. Also, enumerators were instructed to screen residential areas of onehalf acre or less per parcel, yet another deviation from standard JAS procedures. The results of 

this effort are presented in this report.

KEY WORDS: area frame, re-screening, non-agricultural tracts, misclassification

 

2 Denise A. Abreu and Jaki S. McCarthy are statisticians with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) -

Research & Development Division, located at Room 305, 3251 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030. Leslie A. 

Colburn is a NASS statistician with the agency‟s Statistics Division, located at 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 

Washington, DC 20250.
2

I. INTRODUCTION

On an annual basis, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) produces numerous 

estimates for a number of commodities of agricultural importance such as corn, cotton and 

soybeans, as well as for total number of farms in the United States (U.S.). A farm is defined as a 

place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally 

would have been sold, during the year. The calculation also includes any government 

agricultural payments. NASS uses its annual June Area Survey (JAS) as the vehicle to generate 

annual estimates of number of farms. These estimates are compared to ones obtained from the 

quinquennial Census of Agriculture (conducted for years ending in 2 and 7). The annual 

estimates of the number of farms from the JAS have been declining steadily between censuses 

(especially between the 2002 and 2007 Censuses). Furthermore, these have been considerably 

lower than farm numbers from the census, and the difference cannot simply be attributed to 

sampling error. Additionally, results from a qualitative study, known as the Classification Error 

Survey (CES), revealed that agricultural operations were being incorrectly classified as nonagricultural during the screening procedures of the JAS. These developments have prompted 

concerns leading to a series of actions intended to address and resolve the current issues with 

farm number estimation.

To address these issues, an aggressive agenda to identify and implement ways to improve the 

number of farm indications from the JAS was developed that focused on explaining reasons for 

discrepancies in farm status between the annual JAS and the Census of Agriculture. The 

developed plans included 1) measures to improve the area sample for farm numbers, 2) the 

implementation of an intensive post-June survey re-screening and follow-up for bias reduction, 

and 3) the evaluation of capture-recapture estimation methodology to improve farm number 

estimation. 

This report presents the results of component 2 above -- an intensive post-June survey rescreening effort intended to assess issues with screening procedures and to study 

misclassification in the JAS. 

II. BACKGROUND

NASS conducts an annual area frame based survey which collects information about U.S. crops, 

livestock, grain storage capacity, and type and size of farms. Since the distribution of crops and 

livestock can vary considerably across a state, the precision of the survey indications is

substantially improved by dividing the land in the state into homogeneous groups or strata and 

optimally allocating the total sample to the strata. The basic stratification employed by NASS 

involves: (1) dividing the land into land-use strata such as intensively cultivated land, urban 

areas and range land, and (2) further dividing each land-use stratum into substrata by grouping 

areas that are agriculturally similar. The JAS uses a sample of designated land areas (segments) 

which field enumerators visit to collect data on all agricultural activity occurring therein. A 

typical segment is about one square mile (640 acres). Each segment is outlined on an aerial photo 

which is provided to the appropriate field enumerator.

Through field enumeration, a segment is divided into tracts of land, each representing a unique 
3

land operating arrangement. An area screening form is completed for all sample segments. It

inventories all tracts within the segment and contains screening questions that determine whether 

or not each tract has agricultural activity. In this way, all land inside the segment is screened for 

agricultural activity and the screening applies to all land in the identified operating arrangement

(both inside and outside the segment). Those operations (tracts) that qualify as agricultural are 

interviewed using the area version questionnaire, which collects detailed agricultural information 

specifically about the operator‟s land, again both inside and outside the segment.

The area frame is a theoretically complete sampling frame with every acre of land having a 

known chance of selection. As such, it can be used to estimate the number of farms and land in 

farms independently of the list frame, as well as to measure incompleteness in the list. The area 

frame uses a replicated sample design. A sample rotation scheme is used to reduce respondent 

burden caused by repeated interviewing and to avoid the expense of selecting a completely new 

area sample each year. Sample rotation is accomplished each year by replacing segments from 

specified replicates in each land-use stratum with newly selected segments. Approximately 20 

percent of the replicates in each land-use stratum are replaced annually.

In addition to the JAS and the annual list-based surveys, NASS conducts a Census of Agriculture 

every five years (for years ending in 2 and 7). The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of 

U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The census collects data on land use 

and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, and 

many other characteristics. The outcome, when compared to earlier censuses, helps to measure 

trends and new developments in the agricultural sector of our nation‟s economy. The 

information is used only for statistical purposes and data are published only in tabulated totals. 

Census forms are sent to all known and potential agricultural operations in the U.S. The census 

provides the most uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation. It

employs a dual frame: an independent list frame and the area frame from the JAS. The area 

frame is used as a measure of incompleteness of the list frame.

Historically after each census, an evaluation has been conducted to measure misclassification of 

farms on the census mail list. This evaluation involves either recontacting a sample of census 

respondents or overlap matching the census mail list to the area frame. For the 1997 and 2002 

Censuses of Agriculture, classification errors were measured by comparing an operation‟s status 

on the census to its status on the area frame based JAS. In cases where there were discrepancies 

between the two, the JAS was assumed to be correct, and the operations were counted as 

misclassified on the census. For 2007, the primary focus of the misclassification evaluation was 

to identify reasons for discrepancies between the JAS and the census. The 2007 Classification 

Error Survey (CES) was a qualitative examination of why classification and reporting errors 

occur. The 2007 CES results showed that most of the discrepancies were actual errors which

occurred in the JAS, not the census. The U.S. Bureau of the Census has also found errors in 

screening area frame samples in its household surveys (Manheimer and Hyman, 1949; Eckman, 

2009). These results also suggested that screening methods for the JAS should be reviewed. 

There were numerous cases of operations incorrectly classified as non-agricultural based upon

non-agricultural land inside the segment, without recognizing the associated agricultural land 

outside the segment.
4

III. MOTIVATION AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

Results from the 2007 CES indicated that misclassification was not limited to the census, but that 

some agricultural operations were incorrectly classified as non-agricultural during the screening 

procedures of the 2007 JAS (Abreu et. al., 2009). However, the CES was a very small study and 

produced no estimates of either JAS or census misclassification. In an attempt to get a better 

understanding of misclassification on the JAS, a post-June Survey intensive re-screening called 

the Farm Numbers Research Project (FNRP) was undertaken in the fall of 2009.

The general idea for and framework of this project was formed out of a cross-Divisional meeting 

in December 2008, called to identify ways in which NASS might address the increasing spread 

between the number of farms indications from the JAS and the Census of Agriculture. In 

January 2009, the meeting notes/draft proposal document from the December meeting was 

widely circulated in Headquarters for comment. This document was refined based on the 

resulting feedback, and the final version (included in Appendix A) was presented and approved 

for implementation at the March 2009 Program Planning Council3(PPC) meeting.

In anticipation of PPC approval, a cross-Divisional team, later to be called the Farm Numbers 

Research Project (FNRP) Team, was formed in January to flesh out the details of this very 

complex and extensive project. Unlike most research projects, there was to be no small scale 

pre-testing for this project. A basic premise of the project development was that it would be 

conducted as an operational activity in all states following the 2009 JAS. The concern being 

addressed was considered serious enough that senior management felt that the Farm Numbers

Agricultural Statistics Board would need results from this project for every state for use in 

December 2009, when setting the 2009 number of farms estimates. In trying to address this 

need, the Team met weekly, with growing membership (as additional operational units‟ 

participation was required), from January until the project was ultimately launched in August.

FNRP‟s main objective was to determine the extent of misclassification resulting from the 

operational screening procedures for the June survey. The study focused primarily on the 20 

percent newly rotated-in segments of the 2009 JAS. Addressing these segments specifically 

would help provide better long term estimates of farm numbers, due to their longevity in future 

samples, in addition to laying the ground work for better screening procedures for future 

segments. 

The project targeted three types of tracts in the newly rotated-in segments: 

1. Non-agricultural tracts, 

2. Agricultural tracts that were estimated, because their operators refused to participate in 

the JAS, and 

3. Agricultural tracts that were estimated, because their operators were inaccessible in June. 

These tracts were to be re-contacted via mail, phone or through personal interviews as efficiently 

as possible, commensurate with achieving high quality results. Tracts which were entirely 

composed of Public, Industrial, or Grazing Association (PIGA) land were excluded, as PIGA 

 

3 The Program Planning Council is responsible for short-term and medium-term planning, implementing the 

strategic vision, monitoring programs, and determining future actions at NASS.
5

land is used on a fee-per-head or Animal Unit Month (AUM) basis, and is not included in the 

annual land in farms estimates.

IV. SAMPLE SELECTION

There were 2,465 segments in the 2009 JAS that were eligible for the study. However, only 

2,209 segments contained tracts in any of the three targeted categories described above. From 

those segments, there were 10,204 total tracts identified for this project, of which 8,552 were 

identified as non-agricultural during the 2009 JAS screening. An additional 1,652 were 

agricultural tracts whose operators refused or were inaccessible during the 2009 interview 

period.

The sample included only operations from the newly rotated-in segments which comprised 20 

percent of the 2009 JAS sample. It is important to note that not every state had 20 percent of 

their JAS sample rotated in for 2009. For the three states that received an entirely new frame in 

2009 -- Minnesota, South Dakota and Washington -- only selected replicates (approximately 20 

percent) were contacted. For New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and West Virginia (states that did 

not have any new segments in 2009) the rotation group targeted to leave the sample last was

selected. Florida, Utah, and Wyoming had very few new segments in 2009, so for these states, 

segments in prior years were selected in addition to the few newly rotated-in segments.

In most states, sample sizes were relatively small (see Appendix B for sample sizes by state). 

The sample also included specific segments from the Agricultural Coverage Evaluation Survey 

(ACES), which were selected only in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 

Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, and Vermont to aid with farm number estimates for the 

operational June survey, not for FNRP. These supplemental ACES segments were allocated to 

less cultivated strata where small farms are prevalent and more likely to be missed.

 

V. DATA COLLECTION

In conducting this study, all operators in the sampled June tracts needed to be identified, 

including all individuals in residential or other non-agricultural tracts. One major issue with 

non-agricultural tracts has been the lack of good name and address information. The rigorous rescreening undertaken for this post-survey effort focused heavily on obtaining mailable names 

and addresses (and phone numbers, if available) for all the selected places of interest in the 

targeted tracts. A place of interest is defined as any individual residing within the sampled tract

or any land area that could have been drawn off as a separate tract within the sampled tract, 

regardless of size.

JAS segments were overlapped with a real estate parcel dataset from First American Spatial 

Solutions4(FASS) to get name and address information for as many tract operators within the

 

4

First American Spatial Solutions (FASS) is a provider of property location information and geospatial services. 

They are now a division of Core Logic and aggregate up-to-date tax and municipal databases from around the 

country which provide geospatial analytics and solutions targeted around these areas. The ParcelPoint boundary 

database, which is a digitized and accurate spatial database of actual parcel boundaries of 125 million parcels in the 

U.S, was obtained from FASS. In addition, this database provided tax identification numbers, names and addresses.
6

scope of the study as possible. FASS data provided field offices (FOs) with an additional source 

of information to identify owners of the land within the segment. The FASS database contained 

name, parcel address, owner address if different from parcel, telephone number, and tax 

identification number. Maps were produced showing all parcels within each JAS segment. One 

map was created for each segment, and each FASS parcel on the map contained a number 

referring to an accompanying report delivering the information described above. See Appendix 

C for examples of maps of JAS segments displaying FASS parcel numbers. FO staff received 

JAS segments with FASS information and used it to build a mailing list of potential names and 

addresses for subtracts for which this information was not otherwise available. This process 

proved especially beneficial in densely populated areas, since it provided a listing of land 

owners, which helped enumerators with pre-screening. In addition to the use of FASS data, FO 

staff also looked to obtain operators‟ information through Google maps and any other sources 

identified locally. 

Operators of the selected places of interest in the study tracts were asked to participate in this 

effort, referred to in the field as the Land Utilization Survey. The primary purpose of the survey 

was to verify farm/non-farm status, and respondents to it completed a short and simple 

questionnaire that contained questions similar to those on the JAS screening form. The 

questionnaire did not have the exhaustive list of crops and livestock items that are in the June 

questionnaire; however, it collected enough information to calculate points for tracts which did 

not report sufficient sales. The calculated points allowed for a definitive farm/nonfarm 

determination for these tracts. See Appendix D for a copy of the survey instrument used for this 

study.

The current JAS screening procedures implement a 1⁄2-acre rule which instructs enumerators to 

visually inspect residential areas of 1⁄2 acre or less per parcel for any agricultural activity 

(Bosecker et. al., 1988). If there is no clear indication of agricultural activity, the tract is 

identified as non-agricultural and no JAS questionnaire is completed. This is done to minimize 

interviewing costs in enumerating every unit in a segment, which is especially important for 

densely populated areas of land where the cost of enumeration can be very high. For the FNRP, 

enumerators were instructed to ignore the 1⁄2-acre rule and attempt to go to every place of interest 

(i.e., operator) in a specific June tract. As a result of this, the concepts of subsampling and 

subtracts, which are not routinely part of the JAS, were introduced. It is important to note that 

current NASS procedures define each tract as a unique land operating arrangement. However, 

for densely populated June-defined tracts it is possible that multiple operations (places of 

interest) may be present. For example, a residential development with multiple houses may be 

designated as one tract and labeled “houses.” For the FNRP, houses within the selected tract had 

to be screened individually. 

To get the best possible results from the FNRP study, commensurate with containing data 

collection costs at an acceptable level, a special subsampling scheme was developed and the 

concept of subtracts was introduced. For any sampled June tract containing seven or fewer 

places of interest, all of them were interviewed. For tracts with 8-20 places of interest present, 

enumerators were instructed to randomly interview 1/2 of them. For tracts with 20 or more 

places of interest present in the target tract, enumerators were instructed to interview 1/6 of them. 

The selected units in the target tract were determined through rolling a die for each place of 
7

interest. No more than 20 places of interest were interviewed in any given tract. Additionally, 

no fewer than three places of interest were interviewed in each tract, unless there were fewer 

than three total places of interest in the tract.

The project allowed substantial time and flexibility in scheduling and coordinating data 

collection efforts. FOs could collect their data in any manner they deemed appropriate beginning 

in late August and continuing through early November. For the most part, FOs had an initial 

mail-out in late September with additional mailings to follow. They employed several different 

data collection strategies; however, much of the phone/field follow-up occurred in October. 

Editing and summarization of the results occurred in November.

VI. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

There were 10,204 tracts within the scope of FNRP‟s selected segments. The subsampling 

scheme employed for FNRP identified 6,987 additional places of interest eligible to be 

interviewed. The resulting total of 17,191 places of interest, or subtracts, represented a 68.5

percent increase, indicating that there were potentially additional farming operations within a 

NASS tract. Overall, the study resulted in 12,847 completed subtracts, a 74.7 percent 

completion rate. 

Because the JAS is a probability-based sample, each tract has an inclusion probability πi and an 

expansion factor ei = 1/ πi. Within each tract identified as a farm, a proportion of a farm is 

observed. This proportion, the tract-to-farm ratio, is ti = tract acres / farm acres. Both of these are 

used in calculating the current JAS estimate for the number of farms, which is defined as 

follows,

ijk ijk

n

k

s

j

l

i

e a

ij i

1 1 1

where

i indexes stratum

j indexes substratum

k indexes segment

l = Number of land-use strata

i

s

Number of substrata in stratum i

nij

Number of segments in substratum j within stratum i

eijk = Expansion factor or the inverse of the probability of the selection for each segment 

in substratum j in land-use stratum i

ijkm

x

m

ijk a t

ijk

1

m indexes tract
8

ijk x

Number of tracts identified as farms in the given segment

ijkm t

Tract-to-farm ratio of the tract =

th

th

tract acres for the tract

farm acres for the tract

m

m

The results in Table 1 show the total number of subtracts (or places of interest in the study), and 

the resulting number of farms and expanded number of farms by tract type (agricultural or nonagricultural tract). Henceforth, any mention of subtract or place of interest will refer to FNRP,

and tract will refer to the operational JAS.

Table 1: Results by Type of Agricultural Tract

Type of Agricultural 

Tract

FNRP

Total 

Subtracts

Number 

of FNRP 

Farms

Percent of 

Subtracts 

that were

Farms

Number 

of FRNP 

Nonfarms

Percent of 

Subtracts 

that were 

Non-farms

Net 

Expanded 

Number of 

Farms

Estimated agricultural 

tracts 1,712 1,503 87.8% 209 12.2% 5,210

Non-agricultural tracts 

w/ potential 487 95 19.5% 392 80.5% 38,346

Non-agricultural tracts 

w/ unknown potential 364 56 15.4% 308 84.6% 37,479

Non-agricultural tracts 

w/out potential 14,628 905 6.2% 13,723 93.8% 500,338

Totals 17,191 2,559 14.9% 14,632 85.1% 581,373

Of the 17,191 subtracts in the study, 14.9 percent (or 2,559 subtracts) were identified as farm 

operations. More than half of these farms (1,503) were from agricultural tracts which were 

estimated during the JAS summary. These expanded to 256,613 farms, but since most of these 

agricultural tracts were counted as farms during the June Survey, the net increase in farms from 

the FNRP re-screening of them was only 5,210.

The remaining 1,056 farms, which expanded to 576,163, were from tracts identified as nonagricultural during the JAS. The coefficient of variation (CV) associated with this latter 

indication is 10.9. It is important to note that as a result of the subsampling scheme used for the 

FNRP, JAS tract expansion factors (ei) had to be adjusted by subsampling rates. This adjustment 

resulted in over 150 FNRP subtracts identified as farms receiving expansion factors exceeding 

1,000. One very important note is that most of the farms added in the FNRP (86.1% of them) 

were farm operations identified in tracts that had been classified as non-agricultural without any 

potential for agriculture.

Of the 2,559 subtracts qualifying as farm operations, 122 (4.8 percent) were from ACES 

segments. These ACES subtracts, which only occurred in nine states, expanded to 77,289 farms 

(9.3 percent of all expanded farms). Since the ACES subtracts contributed a proportionately 

small percentage of the farms identified by the study, all results presented in this report will 

include the ACES subtracts.
9

Re-screening of Estimated Agricultural Tracts (Refusals & Inaccessibles)

The survey period of the JAS (including summarization of the data) lasts one month. FOs have 

two weeks prior to the start of data collection to prescreen new and residential segments to 

identify tract operators and agricultural activity. Due to this limited timeframe, enumerators do 

not devote as much time as is probably needed to identify tract operators of non-agricultural 

tracts. The study focused on two types of tracts: 1) tracts classified as agricultural which refused 

or were inaccessible during the JAS data collection period and thus estimated, and 2) tracts 

identified as not having any agricultural activity. The farm status of inaccessible and refusal 

tracts from the JAS is based solely on observed and/or estimated data. It was important to 

evaluate these tracts further to determine whether they had been correctly classified. Based on 

the results of the FNRP, the number of farms from these tracts was underestimated by 5,210.

The FNRP sample initially consisted of 1,652 estimated and inaccessible tracts which comprised 

16.2 percent of the total FNRP sample. Through the re-screening and further follow-up, the 

study identified 60 additional places of interest (i.e., FNRP subtracts), resulting in three percent 

more subtracts in FNRP than in the original JAS. Table 2 below shows the total number of 

estimated and inaccessible subtracts in the study, their JAS farm status, their FNRP farm status, 

and the expanded number of farms from both the FNRP and the JAS.

Table 2: Refusal and Inaccessible Tracts – JAS vs FNRP Farm Status

JAS 

Total 

Tracts

FNRP

Total 

Subtracts 

FNRP 

NonFarm

FNRP 

Farm

FNRP 

Expanded 

Farms

JAS 

Expanded 

Farms

(n=1,652)

FNRP Net 

Expanded 

Farms

JAS NonFarm 115 121 84 37 13,032 0 13,032

JAS Farm 1,537 1,591 125 1,466 243,581 251,403 (7,822)

Totals 1,652 1,712 209 1,503 256,613 251,403 5,210

The study results confirmed the farm status of 92.1 percent of the tracts identified as 

farms during the JAS. The study also found, though, that 30.6 percent of the tracts 

identified as non-farms during the JAS should actually have been classified as farms. The 

expanded number of farms for the 1,503 FNRP farms from refusal and inaccessible estimated 

tracts is 256,613. By comparison, the June data for the 1,652 refusal and inaccessible tracts in the 

FNRP sample expanded to 251,403 farms. Therefore, the study results indicate that there should 

be an upward correction of about 2.1 percent or 5,210 farms to the total number 

of farms from the JAS from estimated tracts, indicating slightly more farms from the FNRP rescreening even for these. 

The farm status for over 80 percent of the tracts for which the JAS and FNRP farm status 

disagreed (37 and 125 in Table 2) was actually determined through data collection for both the 

JAS and the FNRP, rather than held in the office or estimated. Most of these farms were 

borderline ones with low values of sales. Also, many of them did not report sufficient sales to 
10

qualify them directly as a farm. Therefore, in order to have their final farm/non-farm status 

determined, $1,000 worth of points were calculated if they had enough agricultural inventory, 

both in the operational JAS and the FNRP. Additionally, most of them had a single place of 

interest in the tract, simplifying the screening process. 

It is important to examine how the farm/nonfarm status of these tracts was determined through 

the FNRP re-screening. Toward that end, Table 3 shows the final status of each of the JAS 

refusal and inaccessible tracts by their original refusal/inaccessible status on the JAS. 

Table 3: Final FNRP Response Status of JAS Refusal and Inaccessible Tracts in the Study 

Total 

Subtracts

Completed FNRP

Re-screenings

FNRP

Estimated Refusals

FNRP Estimated 

Inaccessibles

FNRP Estimated

Office Hold

Subtracts Farms Exp. 

Farms

Subtracts Farms Exp. 

Farms

Subtracts Farms Exp. 

Farms

Subtracts Farms Exp. 

Farms

JAS

refusals 728 228 213 33,670 124 122 18,719 55 50 5,272 321 318 42,241

JAS 

Inacc. 984 544 413 93,155 78 69 12,653 158 129 27,537 204 189 23,366

Totals 1,712 772 626 126,825 202 191 31,372 213 179 32,809 525 507 65,607

Of the 728 JAS refusal tracts, 31.3 percent or 228 were completed via telephone, mail, or faceto-face interviewing. Although the study managed to convert a number of these refusals, a fairly 

high percentage of them were also nonresponse in the FNRP. About 17.0 percent of the JAS 

refusals remained refusals and 7.5 percent became inaccessible, 124 and 55 respectively. 

However, JAS refusals continue to be an issue of concern since 44.1 percent (321 reports) of all 

subtracts were held in the office and not part of any other data collection effort. 

The results were more encouraging for the original 984 JAS inaccessible tracts. The FNRP rescreening was completed for over half of these tracts via one of the three major modes of data 

collection employed. About 7.9 percent (78 subtracts) of the JAS inaccessible tracts were 

refusals for the FNRP re-screening, and only 16.1 percent (158 subtracts) remained as 

inaccessible. Even though 20.7 percent were held in the office and not part of any data 

collection effort, the overall results indicate that it might be possible to obtain responses for these 

tracts if more data collection time were available.
11

Table 4: Results of JAS Estimated FNRP Subtracts by FNRP Mode of Interview

FNRP Mode of 

Interview

Total

Subtracts

Total 

FNRP 

Farms 

from

Estimated

JAS 

Tracts

Total FNRP Farms FNRP 

Expanded

Farms from 

JAS

Estimated 

Tracts

from JAS 

Refusal 

Tracts

from JAS 

Inaccessible 

Tracts

Mail 267 239 102 137 39,724

Telephone 410 378 170 208 70,555

Face-to-Face 291 211 43 168 55,104

CATI 108 89 40 49 16,695

Web 0 0 0 0 0

Fax 1 1 1 0 8

Other5

110 78 29 49 8,919

Office Held

6

525 507 318 189 65,607

Total 1,712 1,503 703 800 256,613

For a majority of the JAS refusal and inaccessible tracts, FOs were able to get responses via mail 

or telephone. However, a substantial number of the inaccessible tracts were ultimately rescreened via face-to-face interviewing (See Table 4). 

Table 5: Results for JAS Estimated Tracts in FNRP by Number of Places of Interest

Number of

Places of Interest

Number of JAS 

Estimated Tracts

FNRP Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Farms

FNRP

Expanded Farms

1 1,623 1,623 1,466 249,132

2-7 28 78 30 7,469

8-20 1 11 7 12

20 or more 0 0 0 0

Totals 1,652 1,712 1,503 256,613

As indicated in Table 5, subtracts and subsampling were not that much of a concern for refusal 

and inaccessible tracts, since most of the farms (97.5 percent or ) were found in JAS 

tracts with only one FNRP subtract. The subsampling did, however, identify about 7,500 more 

farming operations among JAS tracts having two to seven FNRP subtracts. 

 

5 These subtracts were linked to other JAS operations located in different segments or tracts and their JAS 

information was copied over.

6 Office held cases were June refusal or inaccessible tracts that the FO chose not to recontact.
12

Re-screening of Non-Agricultural Tracts

In addition to the refusal and inaccessible tracts discussed in the previous sections of this report, 

the FNRP study focused on tracts which were identified as non-agricultural during the JAS 

screening procedures. In the June survey, each tract is screened to determine whether it is part of 

an agricultural operation. Even if there is no agriculture in the tract, it should be classified as 

agricultural if it is part of an operation with agricultural production elsewhere. Additionally, a 

non-agricultural tract is classified into one of the following three categories: has potential for 

agriculture, does not have potential for agriculture, or potential for agriculture is unknown. The 

rigorous re-screening undertaken for this post-survey effort focused heavily on obtaining 

mailable names and addresses (and phone numbers, if available) for all tracts in the study 

segments. 

The overall evaluation of the non-agricultural tracts confirmed that the operational screening 

efforts have resulted in misclassification of a substantial number of these tracts. The study found 

1,056 JAS tracts that had been classified in June as non-agricultural, that were actually part of 

farming operations. These misclassified, non-agricultural tracts expanded to 576,161 farms. An 

even more surprising finding was that 85.7 percent (905 out of 1,056) of these farms were found 

in non-agricultural tracts identified as having no potential for agriculture (see Table 6). Recall 

that the agricultural potential of a non-agricultural tract is normally determined by the 

enumerators during the screening procedures of the JAS. The results of this study point directly 

to potential improvements in the screening questionnaire and to enhanced enumerator training 

guidelines. Overall the results are very encouraging, suggesting that with more time and 

resources a better quality screening of the non-agricultural tracts could be implemented, which 

would result in the proper identification of more farming operations. 

Table 6: Results of JAS Non-Agricultural Tracts in FNRP by FNRP Response Code

FNRP 

Response 

Code

FNRP

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Farms 

from Nonagricultural

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ 

Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ 

Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

Completed 12,075 983 90 36,884 49 34,636 844 483,703

Refusal -

Estimated 190 16 3 679 0 0 13 616

Inaccessible 

Estimated 1,713 42 1 385 6 2,815 35 15,190

Office Held 

Estimated 173 15 1 398 1 28 13 829

Known 

Zero7 1,328 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 15,479 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

 

7 Known zero records refer to non-agricultural tracts such as schools, cemeteries, railroads, etc. where there is 

clearly no possibility of the land being part of an agricultural operation.
13

Table 6 presents results by response category for the FRNP study. The overall completion rate 

for the study was 74.7 percent, with the completion rate for non-agricultural tracts slightly higher 

at 78.0 percent (12,075/15,479). Only 5.5 percent (58/1,056) of the farms from non-agricultural 

tracts were refusals and inaccessibles, which had to be estimated. Also, a small number (15) of 

these subtracts were linked to other JAS records. These were held in the office and their data 

were estimated.

The concepts of subtracts and subsampling played a much more important role for the study of 

non-agricultural tracts. Recall that for a specific tract, all places of interest were interviewed if 

there were seven or fewer units in the June tract. For tracts with 8-20 places of interest present, 

enumerators were instructed to randomly interview 1/2 of them. For tracts with 20 or more 

places of interest present, enumerators were instructed to interview 1/6 of them.

 

Table 7: Results for JAS Non-Agricultural Tracts in FNRP by Number of Places of 

Interest

Number of 

Places of 

Interest

FNRP 

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

1 7,102 646 82 33,629 36 15,737 528 157,872

2-7 2,457 174 9 4,302 12 2,872 153 37,780

8-20 1,778 88 4 415 3 1,164 81 61,823

20 or more 4,142 148 0 0 5 17,706 143 242,862

Totals 15,479 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

Table 7 shows the results by the number of places of interest in each type of non-agricultural 

tract. It is evident that most of the unexpanded farms (77.7 percent or 820/1,056) were found in 

low density tracts (7 or fewer places of interest). Furthermore, 646 of these farms were found in 

tracts with only one place of interest. This indicates that better in-depth screening of these tracts 

and more effort in identifying the operator of the tract would yield the identification of more 

farming operations. A thorough screening of these 646 tracts would have added an estimated 

207,238 more farming operations. On the other hand, farms found in high density tracts cannot 

be ignored as they also constitute a significant percentage of the misclassified farms. 
14

Table 8: Acreage Distribution by Subtract of JAS Non-Agricultural Tracts in the FNRP

Subtract 

Acreage 

Distribution

FNRP 

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

0.5 Acre or 

less 2,551 34 0 0 0 0 34 2,941

0.6 -0.9 Acre 338 9 0 0 0 0 9 1,587

1-24.9 Acres 9,714 628 39 12,976 28 17,762 561 338,055

25-99.9 

Acres 1,893 255 37 15,591 17 15,630 201 114,654

100+ Acres 983 130 19 9,779 11 4,087 100 43,101

Totals 15,479 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

One of the issues to be addressed through this intensive re-screening was a concern over the 

potential impact of the 1⁄2-acre rule. It was believed that farming operations might be missed 

during the screening as a result of this field enumeration efficiency. In the current operational 

procedures, enumerators are instructed to visually inspect residential areas of 1⁄2 acre or less per 

parcel for any agricultural activity. For these small parcels, if there is no clear indication of 

agricultural activity, the tract is identified as non-agricultural and no JAS questionnaire is 

completed. 

Table 8 shows the distribution of subtract acreage by type of non-agricultural tract. The results 

showed that there were only 34 farms identified from non-agricultural tracts which had 1⁄2 acre or 

less. These expanded to only 2,941 farms, indicating that the JAS is probably not missing a high 

number of farming operations as a result of the 1⁄2-acre rule. 

Table 9: Farm Acreage Distribution of JAS Non-Agricultural Tracts in the FNRP

Farm Acreage 

Distribution

FNRP 

Total 

Farms

FNRP 

Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

0.5 Acre or less 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 26

0.6-0.9 Acre 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 1,136

1-24.9 Acres 382 301 19 10,796 14 16,741 268 307,203

25-99.9 Acres 419 265 33 16,254 15 14,605 217 118,058

100+ Acres 1,754 486 43 11,296 27 6,133 416 73,915

Totals 2,559 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338
15

As indicated in Table 9, the results of this study showed that most of the operations being

misclassified or missed in the non-agricultural tracts are small farms with acreage between 1 and 

24.9 acres (301 farms). These accounted for 334,740 expanded farms. Furthermore, for 28.9

percent of the 1,056 FNRP farms from non-agricultural tracts, the entire operation fell inside the

subtract. These operations accounted for 58.3 percent of all expanded farms. 

Table 10: Results for JAS Non-Agricultural Tracts in FNRP by FNRP Mode of Interview

FNRP 

Mode of 

Interview

FNRP 

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Total 

Farms 

from Nonagricultural

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ 

Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms ExpandedFarms

Mail 1,650 160 19 6,399 4 2,384 137 46,473

Telephone 1,962 253 23 8,032 15 5,359 215 67,384

Face-toface 8,882 519 42 16,757 29 27,550 448 334,297

CATI 569 84 8 5,929 4 840 72 45,624

Web 13 2 0 0 0 0 2 532

Fax 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 902 23 2 831 3 1,318 18 5,199

Known 

Zero 1,501 15 1 398 1 28 13 829

Totals 15,479 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

The results for non-agricultural tracts by mode of interview, as displayed in Table 10, indicate 

that FOs were able to get a reasonable number of responses via mail and telephone. However, 

for logistical purposes, enumeration for the vast majority of the tracts with eight or more places 

of interest was conducted via face to face interviews, as FOs had been instructed. Only 23 

percent of all subtracts with 8 or more dwellings (5,931) were conducted by means of other 

modes of data collection and not face to face interviews. Overall, the vast majority of the farms 

(86.1 percent or 500,338) were found in tracts that had been identified as having no potential for 

agriculture.
16

Table 11: Distribution by Land-Use Strata of Non-Agricultural JAS Tracts in the FNRP 

Land-Use 

Strata

FNRP 

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

50% + 

cultivated 4,868 392 22 3,883 18 4,647 352 80,934

15-49% 

cultivated 5,575 365 43 16,372 14 3,427 308 177,340

<15% 

cultivated 671 287 29 18,091 23 29,404 235 237,648

Agri-urban/

Commercial 4,359 12 1 0 1 0 10 4,416

Non-ags 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 15,479 1,056 95 38,345 56 37,479 905 500,338

Another supposition of this study was that the JAS was missing farms in agri-urban or 

commercial strata. However, the results in Table 11 show that the 697 total subtracts screened in 

these strata only identified 12 additional (4,416 expanded) farms. Although the JAS is missing 

farms in this type of stratum, these do not constitute a large percentage of the farms 

misclassified. The study did find a significant number of additional farms in the less than 15% 

cultivated stratum, indicating that current screening procedures more effectively identify 

agricultural operations in highly cultivated areas than they do in areas with less agriculture. 

Table 12: Distribution by Sales of Agricultural Products of Non-Agricultural JAS Tracts

in the FNRP

Sales of 

Agricultural 

Products

FNRP 

Total 

Number 

Farms

FNRP 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural Tracts 

w/out Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

Less than 

$10,000 898 630 60 28,290 33 31,041 537 389,701

$10,000-

$24,999 258 158 17 5,510 12 5,215 129 70,331

$25,000-

$49,999 168 78 7 4,101 5 694 66 27,217

$50,000-

$99,999 173 53 2 332 2 246 49 5,852

$100,000-

$499,999 547 81 2 15 2 259 77 6,536

$500,000 + 515 56 7 98 2 25 47 702

Totals 2,559 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338
17

Table 12 presents the results of the non-agricultural JAS tracts in the FNRP by value of sales

(including government agricultural payments). These results solidify the hypothesis that small 

farms are missed or misclassified more often, since most of the farms from non-agricultural 

tracts (630/1,056) had less than $10,000 in sales of agricultural products. These 630 farms 

represented 77.9 percent (389,700/500,338) of all farms from JAS non-agricultural tracts 

identified in the study. However, there were 47 non-agricultural tracts with no potential that 

reported over $500,000 in sales in FNRP. Interestingly, four of these reported over $5,000,000 

in sales. These operations should certainly be on the NASS list frame; however, an extensive 

search using their name and address information revealed that three out of the four were not, 

indicating that larger farms are being missed as well. 

Table 13: Distribution by Sales Class of Non-Agricultural JAS Tracts in the FNRP

Type of Farm

FNRP 

Total 

Farms

FNRP Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

Point Farms 667 487 53 27,808 27 29,164 407 328,631

Value of 

Sales Farms 1,892 569 42 10,538 29 8,315 498 171,707

Totals 2,559 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

As mentioned previously, a farm is defined as a place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural 

products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold during the year, and the 

computation includes any government agricultural payments received. To ensure a definitive 

determination of farm/non-farm status for each subtract in the survey, the survey instrument for 

the FNRP collected enough information to calculate dollar “points” for subtracts which did not 

report sufficient sales to qualify them directly as a farm. Any land operating arrangement with 

more than $1,000 worth of points based on agricultural inventory qualifies as a farm on the 

“normally would have been sold” sales criterion of the farm definition, even if it had no actual 

agricultural sales. Farming operations qualifying by this criterion are referred to as “point 

farms.” Table 13 shows that the vast majority of the expanded farms identified were from point 

farms. 
18

Table 14: Number of Farms Identified by Screening Question in the FNRP (Land 

Utilization) Instrument by Type of Agricultural Tract

Screening Questions *

Multiple answers were 

allowed

FNRP 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural Tracts 

w/out Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

Question 1: Any Land 

w/ Ag Potential? 915 83 33,304 48 34,416 784 434,004

Question 2: Any 

Cropland? 4 1 531 0 0 3 3,043

Question 3: Any 

Government

Agricultural 

Payments?

8 0 0 1 220 7 1,827

Question 4: Any Hay 

or Pasture? 26 2 1,395 0 0 24 15,599

Question 5: Raise 

Livestock? 13 3 1,321 0 0 10 6,981

Question 6: Any 

Equine? 9 1 333 0 0 8 20,670

Question 7: Any 

Poultry or Birds? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Question 8: Any Bee 

Colonies? 1 0 0 0 0 1 290

Question 9: Any 

Aquaculture? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Question 10: Any 

Agricultural Sales? 1 0 0 0 0 1 9

The screening portion of the survey instrument for the FNRP study included ten screening 

questions designed to screen in as many respondents as possible to complete the four page 

questionnaire, which ultimately determines farm/nonfarm status. The results by screening 

question are presented in Table 14. From the table, it is clear that the most important questions 

that could be asked are Any Potential for Agriculture (Question 1), Any Hay or Pasture 

(Question 4), Any Livestock (Question 5), Any Government Agricultural Payments (Question 3), 

and Any Equine (Question 6), in that order. As shown in the table, there were 784 subtracts

found in tracts which were classified as non-agricultural with NO potential for agriculture in 

June that answered that they had land with agricultural potential. These results suggest that it is 

important to ASK about land with agricultural potential, not just make a determination based on 

observation of the tract. Previous research by Manheimer and Hyman (1949) and Eckman 

(2009) also indicate that casual observation of units by enumerators is not always adequate and 

has led to misjudging and misclassifying units during screening procedures. This is especially 

true in the JAS screening, since observation can only indicate what‟s inside the segment, and 

farm status is determined by all land under that land operating arrangement, both inside and 

outside the segment. 

For FNRP, it is important to note that for face to face, telephone and CATI interviews, 

interviewers were instructed to complete the questionnaire as soon as they obtained a „yes‟ to 

any one of the screening questions. Thus, questions were not to be asked every time from every 
19

respondent. An analysis of the 160 FNRP reports from June non-agricultural tract mail 

respondents which were subsequently identified as farms showed most of the respondents (94.3 

percent) answered the potential for agriculture screening question (Question 1) most often, 

skipped all other screening questions, and then proceeded to complete the rest of the 

questionnaire.

Table 15: Distribution by Age of Frame of Non-Agricultural JAS Tracts in the FNRP

Age of Frame Total 

States

FNRP

Total 

Subtracts

FNRP 

Total 

Farms from 

Nonagricultural 

Tracts

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/ Potential 

Unknown

Non-agricultural 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Farms Expanded 

Farms Farms Expanded Farms Farms Expanded Farms

5 Years or Less 11 3,824 330 19 9,631 18 14,587 293 156,341

6 to 10 Years 4 2,799 88 8 3,500 0 0 80 46,656

11 to 15 Years 9 3,192 240 41 13,007 15 5,224 184 137,847

16+ Years 24 5,664 398 27 12,208 23 17,668 348 159,494

Totals 48 15,479 1,056 95 38,346 56 37,479 905 500,338

NASS maintains an area frame for each state except Alaska. Frames are constructed one state at 

a time and used year after year until the frame is deemed outdated, generally in about 15 to 20 

years. When a frame becomes outdated, a new frame is constructed to replace it. Analysis of 

age of frame effect on number of farms misclassified revealed that farming operations missed 

were reasonably spread regardless of year in which the frame was built (See Table 15). Newer 

frames (5 years or less) missed about as many farms as did much older ones (16 or more years).

VII. COST ANALYSIS

An initial budget of $600,000 was allocated to FRNP for field data collection. It cost $412,000 

to re-screen the 17,191 subtracts that were within the scope of the project. At the U.S. level, it 

cost $23.97 to screen each subtract and $161.04 for each (unexpanded) farm found. See 

Appendix E for cost estimates at the U.S. level and by state. In the operational 2008 JAS, the 

cost per tract was $43, and it cost an additional $23.97 to re-screen these tracts for FNRP.

The cost estimates for each subtract, as presented here, are an over simplification, since they 

assume that the re-screening cost is the same for non-agricultural and estimated tracts. However, 

since there was already some information on estimated tracts, it was generally less costly to

attempt a re-contact of these. The same amount of information was not available on nonagricultural tracts. In fact, a reasonable amount of time was allocated to finding good name and 

address information on these tracts. Thus, it is safe to conclude that re-screening of nonagricultural tracts comprised a larger portion of the overall cost per subtract ($23.97). It is 

important to note that a direct correlation should not be made between the cost per tract for 

FNRP and the operational JAS, since the methodology and procedures were different. In 

addition to the budget allocated for direct field enumeration expenses, it cost $92,000 to purchase 

the real estate information from First American Spatial Solutions, which was used in identifying 

name and address information for the places of interest in the study. 
20

VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Determine the agricultural/non-agricultural status of each tract by asking the 

screening questions rather than by observation. It is important that all tract operators be 

questioned whether or not there is any agricultural potential in the tract.

2. Add a question/column to the screening questionnaire similar to Question 1 of the 

Land Utilization Survey: Did you own, rent, or operate land with potential for 

agricultural production? Results of the FNRP showed that close to 63.3 percent of 

agricultural operations answered „yes‟ to this question indicating that potentially more 

non-agricultural tracts could be identified as agricultural during the screening procedures. 

If a question is not added, emphasize to enumerators and office staff that this should not 

be determined by enumerator observation (if at all possible) since land operated outside 

the segment cannot be observed. 

3. Retain the “1⁄2-acre rule.” It appears that relatively few farm operations will be missed, 

especially given the resource savings, by continuing to employ the “1⁄2-acre rule”.

4. Provide better training for enumerators and field office (FO) survey administrators 

concerning screening procedures. This should be a standard part of the mid-year 

training school. Additionally, emphasize that field enumerators and FO staff should

utilize all tools available (including asking questions of the respondent‟s neighbors) to 

gain valuable information about agricultural producers in the segment. This way, 

enumerators will essentially ask for information about every person in the segment; 

thereby accounting for every farm in the segment. Training should emphasize proper 

drawing of boundaries and proper application of ownership/operator definition and 

identification. FO staff noted that when they conducted the follow-up interviews, it was 

obvious that several mistakes were made in June in identifying tract operators and/or tract 

boundaries. They found that the majority of wooded areas were not being allocated to the 

proper tract and/or owner/operator. Strengthen the section in the Survey Administration 

Manual which refers to screening and include more examples. This recommendation is 

already being adopted by the Survey Administration Branch.

5. Extend the screening period to start several weeks earlier than the usual start date to 

facilitate more intensive screening, FNRP results showed that this may reduce the 

number of refusal and inaccessible tracts for which data are estimated. Ensure that all 

FOs prescreen new segments and, for June 2010, potentially prescreen “unknown” 

operators from older segments. This recommendation was implemented beginning in 

June 2010.

6. Obtain better quality information on the non-agricultural tracts in order to facilitate 

more accurate screening. Results of the post re-screening showed that the information 

obtained from the First American Spatial Solutions (FASS) was useful to the states in 

accomplishing this. Additionally, states made use of Google maps as an additional 

source of name and address information for non-agricultural tracts. FOs were able to 
21

categorize numerous office hold cases more accurately and many were classified as 

farms. The methods the FOs used in the FNRP should be reviewed to see if methods 

used by individual states could be used more broadly.

7. Conduct a yearly un-duplication review of all the June Area Survey (JAS) tracts 

(agricultural and non-agricultural). There were several FNRP subtracts which were 

linked to other JAS operations located in different segments or tracts. Conducting an unduplication review could help identify the actual farm status of these non-agricultural 

tract operators. The name and address information on the non-agricultural tracts could be 

used by record linkage techniques to attempt to match them to existing agricultural tracts. 

If these match to other tracts on the JAS, their status could be updated from nonagricultural to agricultural. 

8. Evaluate the results from this study for their potential impact on the Census of 

Agriculture number of farms estimates.

9. Use FNRP to enhance regression models being developed by the NASS/NISS team to 

adjust for misclassification in the JAS during non-census years. Currently, the model 

uses 2007 probabilities of misclassification with a verification of the status of the nonagricultural tracts using Census of Agriculture information. 

IX. REFERENCES

Abreu, D. A., J. S. McCarthy, N. J. Dickey (2009). 2007 Classification Error Survey for the 

United States Census of Agriculture. Research and Development Division. RDD Research 

Report: RDD-09-03.

Bosecker, R.R., M. S. Clark (1988). Modifying the Weighted Estimator to Eliminate Screening 

Interviews in Residential Areas. Research and Applications Division. NASS Research Report: 

SSB-88-07.

Davies, Carrie (2009). Area Frame Design for Agricultural Surveys. Research and 

Development Division Internal Document.

Eckman, Stephanie (2009). Coverage Rates and Coverage Bias When Interviewers Create

Frames. Presented at the International Total Survey Error Workshop.

Manheimer, D. and H. Hyman (1949). Interviewer Performance in Area Sampling. Public 

Opinion Quarterly 13(1).

Matthews, Ralph V. (1988). Screening Residential Tracts for Agricultural Activity. Research 

and Applications Division. NASS Research Report: SSB-88-05. 
22

X. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to sincerely thank all the people who provided their insightful comments 

and invaluable contributions to this research report and the FNRP project: 

Mark Apodaca, Pam Arroway, Dale Atkinson, Kevin Barnes, Norman Bennett, Patrick Boyle, 

Scott Cox, Carrie Davies, Matt Deaton, Virginia Harris, Kevin Hintzman, Bill Iwig, Andrea C. 

Lamas, Kenneth K. Lopiano, Leslee Lohrenz, Scott Shimmin, Linda J. Young
Appendix A

1

Farm Numbers Operational Improvements and Research Program for 2009

(Updated 03/05/09)

The number of farms and land in farms data series are very important and sensitive ones to 

USDA and their production by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is critical to 

the reputation of the agency as a provider of accurate, unbiased statistics. During the 2007 

Census of Agriculture it was discovered that a significant number of farms were missed in the 

previous year‟s area frame estimates of number of farms. The working assumption of NASS has 

been that the area frame is complete and that all farms and commodities are captured in the area 

frame expansions. This assumption is due to the theoretical completeness of the frame, the 

perceived quality of the personal enumeration utilized for the data collection, and the extensive 

training of field enumerators collecting the data. However, the 2007 census results showed that 

many of the smallest farms were not captured in either the area frame or on the census mail list. 

In addition, the 2007 Classification Error Survey (CES) showed that a significant number of 

small and minority farms added to the census mail list during the 2007 mail list development 

cycle were not correctly classified as farms in the area frame sample. 

Thus, estimates of farm numbers based on the area frame have under-estimated number of farms. 

This proposal is designed to test improvements to the operational process and outline research 

designed to improve the estimates by testing alternative procedures to measure the number of 

farms. The components of this are as follows:

A. Improve the Area Sample for Farm Numbers

B. Implement an Intensive Post-Survey Screening and Follow-up for Bias Reduction

C. Evaluate Capture – Recapture Estimation of the Number of Farms

D. Analyze 2007 Census data for Not-on-Mail-List (NML) Tracts to Improve Future List 

Development

A. Improve the Area Sample for Farm Numbers

The Area Frame Sample is allocated at the national level for farm numbers. This has resulted in 

many states having a smaller number of segments, with the national allocation of segments 

serving as a balance in support of both commodity and farm number estimation. To improve the 

estimation of farm numbers from the area frame, supplemental segments will be selected this 

year to augment the June 2009 sample size. The additional segments will be a subset of the 

ACES segments used in June 2007 to ensure the quality of the Not-on-Mail-List component of 

the 2007 Census of Agriculture results. The inclusion of the additional segments will supplement 

the national allocation and lower CVs for farm numbers, particularly for small farms. Many of 

these segments are located in the agri-urban strata where many small farms reside. 

Through the efforts of the Area Frame Section and the Survey Administration Branch (in costing 

out sample augmentation options), the attached worksheet provides an allocation of ACES 

segments (181) to use for June 2009. The worksheet also shows 122 segments being added for 

the new Native American strata in the southwestern states, per previous discussion at the October

2008 PPC meeting. 

The criteria used to determine where to add the ACES segments are as follows: 

1. States with the largest difference between the "fully adjusted” Census indication and the 

four-year average JAS direct expansion for number of farms.
Appendix A

2

2. States with high CVs or those showing the greatest potential for improvement of CVs. 

States not considered were Native American states (AZ, CO, NM, NV, and UT), new frame 

states (MN, SD, WA), and states with a small number of farms. Also not considered were CA, 

MS and TX which were part of the Minority Agricultural Coverage Evaluation Survey 

(MACES). The MACES segments were added primarily to improve minority number of farm 

estimates by creating new substrata. Adding them back for this purpose would have resulted in 

an overly complex sample weighting process. 

Other comments:

Plans are not to reprint the ACES photos, meaning the segments numbers will be same as they 

were during June 2007. Their complete 6 digit ACES segment numbers will be unique; 

however, the last 4 digits will not be unique. 

For the recommended states, only a portion of their 2007 ACES sample was allocated to 

minimize FO workload. Most of the allocation was distributed to the moderate to light 

cultivation strata (20s and 40s). 

B. Implement an Intensive Post-Survey Screening and Follow-up for Bias Reduction: 

No changes to normal prescreening, screening or data collection will be implemented for the 

2009 June Area Survey (including any additional segments added as outlined above). FOs will 

follow normal times and procedures, and they should continue to utilize FSA screening where 

history has shown it to be advantageous.

However, an additional, post-survey screening will be conducted on all newly rotated-in 2009 

June Area Survey and added ACES segments, which will focus on collecting quality names and 

addresses for all tracts. This additional, enhanced screening will be especially needed for tracts 

that were identified as non-ag, or were inaccessible or estimated for the June survey. The 

additional screening will be conducted through the most cost-effective way possible to collect 

these complete (and mailable) names and addresses for all tracts and occupied dwellings. This 

follow-up, intensive screening will occur after completion of the June Survey, and must be done 

in the most cost efficient manner possible, including coordination, where possible, with other 

field visits. The primary objective will be to identify quality names and addresses (and telephone 

numbers, as available) for all tracts not previously identified as farm operators -- not to collect 

data. Therefore, if mailable names and addresses can be obtained, at least in part, through other 

means (e.g., tax records) in lieu of door-to-door canvassing, this much-less expensive, indirect 

method should be used.

All tracts in the newly rotated-in June 2009 and added ACES segments previously coded as nonag or non-ag with potential or as inaccessible or estimated will subsequently be followed-up 

through an Agricultural Identification Survey (AIS) to determine their true farm status. The AIS 

instrument will utilize enhanced screening questions developed by Research and Development 

Division cooperators, Drs. Don Dillman and Danna Moore of Washington State University 

(WSU). This subsequent screening for farm/nonfarm determination will use mail, phone, EDR 
Appendix A

3

and phone follow-up to maximize response. The focus will be on a definitive determination of 

the farm status of each name in the most efficient manner possible. The AIS procedures being 

researched and developed by WSU cooperators will be designed to maximize mail and Internet 

response, in order to make this follow-up screening as efficient as possible.

An estimate of the number of farms missed in the current operational procedures will be made 

from the number of additional operations identified in the enhanced screening, and a new 

estimate of the number of farms from the June Area Survey will be calculated.

This component of the overall farm number improvement program for 2009 is designed to 

reduce the RMSE of farm number estimation (especially for small farms) by minimizing the bias 

from farms being missed during the screening procedures.

C. Evaluate Capture – Recapture Estimation of the Number of Farms

An estimate of the number of farms not found on the area frame will also be measured by 

utilizing capture-recapture methods with the 2009 Agricultural Resource Management Survey 

(ARMS) Phase I and the 2009 June Area Survey. The procedures will be tested in advance by 

utilizing the 2007 Census of Agriculture and the 2007 June Area Survey. Results for 2008 will 

not be available since there was no ARMS screener that year.

See the supplemental attached document (Some Thoughts On Adjusting for the Not-on-EitherFrame Component of the 2007 Census of Agriculture) by Phil Kott for a general discussion of 

this methodology. See also the attached document (A Capture-Recapture Indication for the 2007 

Census of Agriculture and an Estimator for its Variance) by Phil for details on the capturerecapture indication and an estimator of its variance.

One of the under-pinning requirements of capture-recapture methodology is that all target 

population units have a non-zero probability of selection in each frame involved – here list and 

area.

All units innately had a non-zero probability of selection in the 2007 June Area survey, with the 

exception of any new operations formed after June that qualified as 2007 farms. The problem is 

murkier from the list side, since reduced list sampling is conducted for most surveys focusing 

solely on production agriculture. From the list standpoint, the requirement of non-zero 

probabilities of selection are probably best satisfied by the Census of Agriculture and the 

Agricultural Resource Management Survey (Phase I), where small and limited resource farms 

are of concern.

Some consideration will be given to possible additional data that could be collected on future 

June area surveys that would help with subsequent year capture-recapture estimation with the 

ARMS Phase I.

D. Analyze 2007 Census data for Not-on-Mail-List (NML) Tracts to Improve Future List 

Development
Appendix A

4

A full census questionnaire was sent to all 2007 ag and non-ag with ag potential June Area tracts 

not found on the census list. The data were collected primarily to ensure the accuracy of the 

scrubbing process in determining the correct match/non-match status between the operations on 

the list and area sides, but they also have potential for shedding light on the characteristics of 

farming operations that were missed in the census list building process. Data mining and cluster 

analysis will be used to identify subgroups of the NML tracts to provide guidance into future, 

improved list building efforts.
Appendix A

5
Appendix A

6
Appendix A

7
Appendix A

8
Appendix A

9
Appendix A

10
Appendix A

11
Appendix A

12
Appendix A

13
Appendix A

14
Appendix A

15

A Capture-Recapture Indication for the 2007 Census of Agriculture

and an Estimator for its Variance

Suppose both the full JAS area sample of farms and the Census-Mail-List (CML) 

respondents have already been separated into G mutually exclusive capture/recapture 

groups. These groups can be determined using logistic regression or data-mining 

techniques.* 

Let 

Cg denote the estimate of the number for list farms in group g derived from the CML 

respondents, 

Ag be the set of area-frame sample farms in group g, and 

Lg be the subsample of Ag containing only area-frame farms on the CML. 

If wk is the area-frame weight for area-sample farm k (including the tract-to-farm 

adjustment), and yk is the item value of interest for k (yk will usually be 1 for all farms, 

although there are other possibilities), then the capture-recapture indication for the ytotal is

1

.

g

g

k k G k A

y g

g k

k L

w y

t C

w

* The idea is to determine the characteristics that make a farm more or less likely to be 

on the CML from the Census responses of JAS area-sample farms (including ACES 

and MACES segments). Both area-frame and CML respondent farms are then put into 

capture/recapture groups by placing together farms with similar probabilities of being on 

the CML based solely on their characteristics. 
Appendix A

16

Note that Cg and 

g

k L wk

are estimating the number of farms on the CML in

group g, but the latter may be subject to an undercount. In computing ty, the adjustment 

ratio for the area-frame undercount of the CML in g, 

g

g k k L C w

, is applied to the 

full area-frame estimate in g: 

g

k A w yk k

. 

An extended delete-a-group jackknife estimator for the area-frame contribution to the 

variance of ty is 

1

1 ( ) ( ) ( ),

R

r

A y y y

r

R

v t t t

R

1

( )

( ) ( )

( ) where , and the are defined in the appendix. g

g

r

k k

G

r

k A r

y g r k

g k

k L

w y

t C w

w

Since the the only “sampling” in the CML is the result of Census nonresponse, the 

sampling fractions are too high to use a delete-a-group jackknife to compute the likelyto-be-very-small contribution of the CML to the variance of ty. Instead, define 

g

g

k k

k A

k

k

k L

w y

f

w

for every CML respondent in capture/recapture group g. Consider the CML-weighted 

total of the f values among all CML respondents. This total is exactly equal to ty, and 

the CML variance tor for this total is the CML contribution to the variance of ty. As a 
Appendix A

17

result, the estimated variance of ty is 

( ) A y v t

plus the estimated CML variance for the 

total of the f values. 

 Phil Kott; 12/30/08
Appendix A

18

Appendix: Extended Delete-a-Group Jackknife Weights

Sort the sampled segments in the JAS by substratum and assign each segment 

systematically to one of R = 15 replicate groups. A replicate group is the complement 

of a replicate. It has no relationship to a capture/recapture group. 

Let h denote a substratum, r a replicate group, and

hr S

the set of farms from segments 

in the area sample (S), substratum h and replicate group r. Let nh be the number of

segments from substratum h in the area sample. 

For each area-sample farm k in substratum h, 15 jackknife replicate weights are 

computed as follows: 

 

 

( ) r w w k k

 if 

hr S

is empty

 1 1 ( ) w n Z k h if nh > 1 and k 

hr S

 1 w Z k if nh > 1, 

hr S

is not empty, and k

hr S 

 

1

2 1 1

R

k R

w

if nh = 1 and k 

hr S ,

where 

1 1

1 1 1

min , .

( ) h h h

R

Z

R n n n

Observe that when nh R = 15 (so that Z = 1/(nh 1)), these replicate weights are the 

same as conventional delete-a-group replicate weights. In particular, 

( ) r

k w

= 0 when k 

hr S

, and 

( ) r

k w = [nh /(nh 1)]wk when k

hr S .
Appendix B

1

2009 Farm Numbers Research Project (FNRP): Segment and Tract Counts by State

STATE Total 

Segments 

RotatedIn

Segments 

to 

Contact 

for FNRP

Non-ags 

Tracts w/ 

Potential or 

Potential UK

Non-ags 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Estimated 

Refusal & 

Inaccessible 

Tracts

Total 

Study 

Tracts

AL(1) 64 62 33 281 37 351

AZ(4) 57 38 4 59 31 94

AR(5) 102 96 11 490 37 538

CA(6) 78 73 36 123 59 218

CO(8) 60 45 4 98 48 150

CT(9) 6 6 0 11 2 13

DE(10) 3 3 1 16 2 19

FL(12) 27 25 1 135 3 139

GA(13) 48 47 11 220 25 256

ID(16) 24 23 5 72 16 93

IL(17) 79 79 12 317 70 399

IN(18) 52 51 11 301 46 358

IA(19) 96 86 8 234 56 298

KS(20) 79 63 5 45 109 159

KY(21) 37 33 13 133 17 163

LA(22) 60 56 14 293 31 338

ME(23) 24 24 0 57 6 63

MD(24) 11 11 7 48 8 63

MA(25) 23 23 0 58 10 68

MI(26) 56 56 2 104 55 161

MN(27) 78 70 16 187 45 248

MS(28) 58 53 8 202 11 221

MO(29) 75 74 21 250 97 368

MT(30) 90 58 5 118 57 180

NE(31) 74 63 7 99 81 187

NV(32) 10 4 1 4 6 11

NH(33) 5 5 0 10 3 13

NJ(34) 8 8 3 124 2 129

NM(35) 56 35 46 89 44 179

NY(36) 15 15 6 63 11 80

NC(37) 63 62 13 86 28 127

ND(38) 82 82 2 133 58 193

OH(39) 64 62 1 119 32 152

OK(40) 66 53 60 322 63 445

OR(41) 33 21 4 71 8 83
Appendix B

2

2009 Farm Numbers Research Project (FNRP): Segment and Tract Counts by State

STATE Total 

Segments 

RotatedIn

Segments 

to 

Contact 

for FNRP

Non-ags 

Tracts w/ 

Potential or 

Potential UK

Non-ags 

Tracts w/out 

Potential

Estimated 

Refusal & 

Inaccessible 

Tracts

Total 

Study 

Tracts

PA(42) 53 53 14 308 18 340

RI(44) 4 4 0 6 3 9

SC(45) 61 60 5 163 34 202

SD(46) 78 59 5 79 64 148

TN(47) 66 64 34 418 29 481

TX(48) 202 183 142 650 126 918

UT(49) 42 35 13 56 39 108

VT(50) 16 16 0 46 7 53

VA(51) 35 35 8 44 11 63

WA(53) 52 51 15 315 51 381

WV(54) 25 25 5 395 12 412

WI(55) 43 43 20 308 28 356

WY(56) 25 16 0 160 16 176

Totals 2,465 2,209 632 7,920 1,652 10,204
Appendix C

1
Appendix C

2
Appendix D

1
Appendix D

2
Appendix D

3
Appendix D

4
Appendix E

1

State Name Total 

Expenses

Total 

Tracts

Tracts from 

estimated

Tracts from nonagsTotal 

Farms

Farms from 

non-ags

Farms from estimated 

tracts

Total Expenses per 

Tract

Total Expenses per 

Farms

US Level $412,104 17,191 1,712 15,479 2,559 1,056 1,503 $23.97 $161.04

Alabama $27,942 642 65 577 93 58 35 $43.52 $300.45

Arizona $1,246 160 31 129 22 1 21 $7.79 $56.64

Arkansas $19,331 716 37 679 97 60 37 $27.00 $199.29

California $9,076 393 59 334 81 30 51 $23.09 $112.05

Colorado $3,221 152 48 104 45 1 44 $21.19 $71.58

Florida $7,452 190 3 187 9 6 3 $39.22 $828.00

Georgia $18,571 353 25 328 55 34 21 $52.61 $337.65

Idaho $5,125 128 16 112 23 8 15 $40.04 $222.83

Illinois $11,864 522 71 451 102 33 69 $22.73 $116.31

Indiana $6,633 583 46 537 80 35 45 $11.38 $82.91

Iowa $7,025 403 56 347 98 42 56 $17.43 $71.68

Kansas $4,104 195 110 85 113 6 107 $21.05 $36.32

Kentucky $10,749 284 20 264 71 52 19 $37.85 $151.39

Louisiana $20,127 576 35 541 90 60 30 $34.94 $223.63

Maryland $3,312 204 10 194 17 10 7 $16.24 $194.82

Michigan $8,236 557 61 496 66 20 46 $14.79 $124.79

Minnesota $8,369 333 45 288 77 34 43 $25.13 $108.69

Mississippi $19,594 461 11 450 50 40 10 $42.50 $391.88

Missouri $11,720 450 100 350 122 29 93 $26.04 $96.07

Montana $2,469 218 57 161 72 18 54 $11.33 $34.29

Nebraska $2,240 224 81 143 92 11 81 $10.00 $24.35

Nevada $111 57 6 51 6 3 3 $1.95 $18.50

New Hampshire $15,375 744 31 713 38 24 14 $20.67 $404.61

New Jersey $5,567 256 2 254 4 2 2 $21.75 $1,391.75

New Mexico $16,626 231 56 175 53 20 33 $71.97 $313.70
Appendix E

2

New York $3,334 175 11 164 27 17 10 $19.05 $123.48

North Carolina $5,100 605 28 577 69 44 25 $8.43 $73.91

North Dakota $1,488 197 58 139 64 6 58 $7.55 $23.25

Ohio $11,401 398 32 366 52 21 31 $28.65 $219.25

Oklahoma $7,188 565 63 502 115 53 62 $12.72 $62.50

Oregon $2,016 111 8 103 9 2 7 $18.16 $224.00

Pennsylvania $22,393 880 18 862 41 24 17 $25.45 $546.17

South Carolina $11,181 408 34 374 53 24 29 $27.40 $210.96

South Dakota $366 157 64 93 71 10 61 $2.33 $5.15

Tennessee $20,520 907 29 878 43 15 28 $22.62 $477.21

Texas $47,237 1,547 126 1421 248 130 118 $30.53 $190.47

Utah $2,790 152 39 113 44 10 34 $18.36 $63.41

Virginia $4,246 232 11 221 15 9 6 $18.30 $283.07

Washington $3,460 439 51 388 62 26 36 $7.88 $55.81

West Virginia $10,611 698 12 686 26 18 8 $15.20 $408.12

Wisconsin $10,800 512 30 482 28 5 23 $21.09 $385.71

Wyoming $1,888 176 16 160 16 5 11 $10.73 $118.00