USDA sent us a Christmas present this year; 2017 Census of Agriculture. It is mandatory by law for any farm that grosses >$1000. The survey collects info collected in the normal censuses (demographics) plus info on IRS tax returns (salary, farm income, expenses) plus detailed info on farming practices (who makes day to day decisions, fertilizer used and amounts, pesticides, equipment owned including trucks, etc). We are even required to tell them the value of equipment our neighbor stores on our farm.What a PIA

BTW we will be at the PA Farm Show and we are told there will be live tv coverage this year.

BC Snob, does this include all farms. Just wondering if my mom should be getting a survey. Ours is small family owned and timber is only source of income (and hasn't been cut in enough years that it will likely need cutting in the next couple years)

Good luck. Hope it goes quickly. Won't tell you what my brother says 'USDA' stands for because the mods might delete it.

Depends upon if the USDA is aware of your family farm. The usda knows about us because we are required by law to submit money to the us lamb board (think the sheep version of the us dairy board, aka “got milk”) after the direct sale of any sheep.

Been filing that form for 25 years now. No biggie. Least they provide a paid return packet.

Christmas present from USDA | Good Sam Community

BCSnob
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
BTW we will be at the PA Farm Show and we are told there will be live tv coverage this year.
wannavolunteerF
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
BC Snob, does this include all farms. Just wondering if my mom should be getting a survey. Ours is small family owned and timber is only source of income (and hasn't been cut in enough years that it will likely need cutting in the next couple years)
magnusfide
Explorer II
Dec 30, 2017
Good luck. Hope it goes quickly. Won't tell you what my brother says 'USDA' stands for because the mods might delete it.
BCSnob
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
Depends upon if the USDA is aware of your family farm. The usda knows about us because we are required by law to submit money to the us lamb board (think the sheep version of the us dairy board, aka “got milk”) after the direct sale of any sheep.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Dec 30, 2017
Been filing that form for 25 years now. No biggie. Least they provide a paid return packet.
BCSnob
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
Except when estimating the value of equipment that is not yours (4 tractors, haybine, rake, and roughcut mower).
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Dec 30, 2017
BCSnob wrote:
Except when estimating the value of equipment that is not yours (4 tractors, haybine, rake, and roughcut mower).

Inform owner/neighbor that THEY need to provide a 'value' OR you will have to put down what you think it is worth.
Your estimate might be way HIGH
ksg5000
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
I wonder why they need that info and what they do with it? When I was in business we had enormous overhead just to fill out govt paperwork, had large tax dept, environmental engineers, attorneys and host of other expensive people who did nothing but deal with govt rules.
stickdog
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
ksg5000 wrote:
I wonder why they need that info and what they do with it? When I was in business we had enormous overhead just to fill out govt paperwork, had large tax dept, environmental engineers, attorneys and host of other expensive people who did nothing but deal with govt rules.

So they can hire an additional 1000 employees to shuffle those forms around. The more employees the bigger the budget and justification for being.
BizmarksMom
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
I filled one of those out every year for 25 years before selling the farm. It's pretty routine, especially when wrapping up the year end bookwork anyway.