USDA To Visit Selected PA Farmers For Conservation Assessment Survey

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will soon visit selected farmers in Pennsylvania as part of the 2011 National Resources Inventory – Conservation Effects Assessment Project survey.

The survey, conducted between November 2011 and February 2012, will gather information from producers about farming and conservation practices on cultivated cropland.

“Conservation programs help agricultural producers reduce soil erosion, enhance water and air quality, conserve energy, and enhance wildlife habitat,” said Kevin Pautler, director of the NASS Pennsylvania Field Office. “These programs are important to farmers and rural communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed who use them to help maintain productive farmland and restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay. I encourage all farmers contacted to respond to the survey.”

Why respond to the CEAP survey? Your response will help:

-- Provide a much needed complete picture of conservation practices in the Chesapeake Bay

watershed;

-- Illustrate the good work that farmers in the region are already doing to conserve natural resources;

-- Improve and strengthen technical and financial programs that help landowners plan and install conservation practices on agricultural land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; and

-- Maintain the very conservation programs that can help producers’ bottom line – while also protecting the very soil, water and habitat we all depend on.

“Chesapeake Bay area farmers, especially those in Pennsylvania, have continued to install many on-farm best management practices since NASS last conducted the CEAP survey in 2006,” said Pautler. “This updated information is needed to document the prevalence of all conservation practices and provide the base from which to strengthen conservation planning, implementation and management.”

Producers are asked to provide information on farm production practices; chemical, fertilizer and manure applications; integrated pest management; and installed conservation practices. As with all NASS surveys, respondents are guaranteed by law that their individual information is kept confidential.

For more information or questions about the CEAP survey, contact the NASS Pennsylvania Field Office at 1-800-498-1518 or the USDA National Resources Inventory – Conservation Effects Assessment Project survey webpage.