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NASS Survey to Assess Small Grains Production

Amidst ongoing concerns over the availability of grain supplies for food, fuel, feed and fiber, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon measure U.S. farmers’ final 2008 production of small grains, including wheat, oats, barley and rye.

During the first two weeks of September, the Georgia Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will contact more than 1400 producers statewide as part of the September Agricultural Survey, also known as the Crops/Stocks Survey.  Results will provide the basis for official USDA estimates of 2008 acreage, yield and production for small grains.

“Information is needed on the size of this year’s small grain crops,” said Douglas Kleweno, director of the NASS Georgia Field Office.  “Not only will we be gathering final data on 2008 small grains production, but we’ll also be collecting information on quantities of grains and oilseeds stored on farms statewide.”

NASS will contact selected Georgia producers by mail or telephone and ask them to provide information on their 2008 production and on-farm stocks of corn, soybeans, sorghum grain, wheat and oats.  As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law.

“NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state- and national-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” Kleweno said.

Survey results will be published in several reports, including the annual Small Grains summary and the quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on September 30.  These and all NASS reports are available on the agency’s web site:  www.nass.usda.gov.  For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Georgia Field Office at 1-800-253-4419.