N A S S 2002 ational gricultural tatistics ervice U.S. Department of Agriculture 2002 N ational CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE A gricultural S tatistics Thank you for inviting me to the first annual Butler/Cunningham Conference. This is my first opportunity to visit Alabama. I have enjoyed preparing this Power Point Presentation and hope that you find it interesting as well as informative. S ervice

How does Alabama Agriculture Compare to Other States? First Annual Butler/Cunningham Conference, November 13, 2002 Birmingham, Alabama When preparing this presentation I decided to expand some of the information that was presented in Herb Vanderberry’s talk to show the the perspective from a U.S.

Source: 1997 Agriculture Census Notice that as you move away from each coast the amount of land devoted to agriculture increases. The percent of land in agriculture is calculated as the: State’s approximate land area, acres / Land in Farms, acres. States, that are colored red on this map, have less than 25% of their approximate land area (acres) being utilized for the purposes of agriculture. There are several reasons that may explain why: Population pressures Type of ag. is not land intensive, such as greenhouses, which support urban needs Environmental factors – poor soils, low rainfall, etc. Land not eligible for agricultural use, such as National Parks U.S. 41% AL 27% Source: 1997 Agriculture Census

Source: 1997 Agriculture Census U.S. 487 ac. AL 210 ac. U.S. 487 ac. AL 210 ac. Acres According to the 1997 Census, Alabama has an average farm size of 210 acres. Farms with an average size of 100 – 200 acres are represented on the map using the color green. In addition to Alabama, there are 20 more States with this size range. The smallest size range, farms averaging less than 100 acres, (of course) includes the smallest State - - Rhode Island, 75 acres per farm. Arizona has the largest average size at approx. 4400 acres per farm. AZ is home to several American Indian Reservations. The Census counts an American Indian Reservation as one farm, NASS is currently testing the feasibility of counting individual operations on American Indian Reservation. Nine States , which includes Alaska (approx. 1600 acres per farm), average more than 1000 acres per farm. The U.S. average size per farm is 487 acres. Source: 1997 Agriculture Census

Source: 1997 Agriculture Census Highest New Jersey $6600 Lowest New Mexico $200 U.S. $933 per acre AL $1,442 per acre Source: 1997 Agriculture Census

Source: 1997 Agriculture Census Land is far and away the largest asset most farm operators possess. Largest Arizona $1,689,000 Smallest West Virginia 213,000 Alabama $299,000 average value per farm U.S. $450,000 average value per farm U.S. $450,000 AL $299,000 Source: 1997 Agriculture Census

Alabama is Animal Agriculture U.S. is 50:50 AL is 80:20 Only three states have a higher percentage of their total sales coming from animal agriculture. They are Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Poultry is 66% of the animal agriculture in Alabama. Less than 3500 of the 40,000 farms produce poultry. (8.4 % of the farms) (i.e. A few farms selling a lot of birds.) 66% of the farms in Alabama sold cattle Their sales accounted for almost 10% of the animal agriculture in the state. (i.e. A lost of farms selling a few head of cattle.) Sources: 1997 Agriculture Census

cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans and wheat. While 80% of Alabama’s value of sales is from animal production, the remaining 20% comes from the State’s major crops: cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans and wheat.

Please notice that this slide is a subset of the universe of all farms. The universe shown here is for farms with sales of $10,000 or more. Compare Alabama with North and South Dakota – The majority of the farmers in the Dakotas reported their principal occupation as farming. Whereas in Alabama and many other areas of the country, farmers reported their principal occupation as “Other than farming”.

Compare Alabama to Florida. Notice that Alabama has few farms operated by corporations. Whereas Florida looks quite different.

Source: 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

Total Net Cash Income: 1999 and 1988 Source: 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

Farms With Production Contracts Total Farms = 54,589 Source: 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

2002 Coming Soon CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE You Make It Known – AGRICULTURE COUNTS

The Census of Agriculture 2002 provides the most comprehensive source of statistics portraying our Nation’s agriculture CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE - is the only source of uniform agricultural data for every county in the U.S. provides a complete statistical picture of U.S. farms and ranches every five years

2002 To Help Reduce Respondent Burden - Report forms are regionalized CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE Report forms are regionalized 75% of operators receive the short form (non-sample) Help line - 1-800-4AG-STAT

Benefits to You 2002 Data supplied by farmers and ranchers will help the ag community make informed decisions concerning - 2002 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE - Competitive market pricing and services - Environmental and conservation issues - New and changing technologies Structure and needs of farms of various sizes and specialties Add speaker notes to this slide - Irrigation and other practices - Improving farming efficiencies - Farming trends

? Show The Same Trends? 2002 Census Count of Farms Will The Picture For 2002 Continue to Show The Same Trends? 2002 Census Count of Farms CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE million 2.0 1.5 ? 1.0 .5

…The Same Trends? 2002 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE ?

…The Same Trends? 2002 U.S. AL. 210 $74,900 $11,840 $60,660 $35,900 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 210 $74,900 $11,840 $60,660 $35,900 54.9

Data Collected 2002 Chemicals Crops Corporate structure Energy expenditures Farm programs Farm acreage Fertilizers Irrigated land Land use & ownership Livestock & Poultry Machinery & equipment Market value of products Operator characteristics Production expenses CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE

Being Collected Include - Some New Information Being Collected Include - 2002 - Multiple operators (up to 3 operators) - Acres used to grow certified organic commodities - Aquatic plants - Acres treated with animal manure - Grain storage capacity Bison, deer, elk, llamas, emus, & ostrich inventory More detailed farm-related income Computer/Internet use CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE

Thank you