Farmers in Delaware and Maryland have the opportunity from now until early February to have an impact on their communities and the industry by taking part in the 2017 Census of Agriculture.
The Census of Agriculture takes place every five years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
"It’s a look at what our farmers are producing in the state as well as across the country. It gives us a really good look at the impact agriculture has on the economy,” said Delaware Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Stacey Hofmann.
Hofmann says this year, NASS has extensively revised the online census questionnaire to make it more convenient for producers. She says farmers can either mail in their completed census form or take advantage of responding online at agcounts.usda.gov. The census response deadline is February 5, 2018.
The last time the census was taken in 2012, Delaware reported a total of 2,451 farms, covering over 508,000 acres on land statewide. These numbers represented a 4% decrease in the number of Delaware farms from the previous census in 2007.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture is also collecting new information, such as data on active service and military veteran farmers.
