Agricultural Census

[salvo]

Hi Folks,

I'm going into my third year beekeeping.

A few weeks ago I received the "2012 Census of Agriculture" ( I file a schedule F). I responded today, online. Pretty easy.

link here:

http://agcensus.usda.gov/

There were very few questions directly related to beekeepers,...chemical costs,...value of crop,...total gross sales,... value of equipment. It would not let me "select, copy, paste, save" or I'd post it here. It would only save as a web page.

I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. Has anyone else filled this out?

Any discussion value to this census???

Is this similar to "gun registration"? (Just jokin')

Salvo

[AllenF]

I don't file it.   Don't need them knowing what I've got or doing.   

[oliver]

What Allen said

[buzzbee]

I filed with a bunch of zeroes. I have bees in my backyard,hardly an agricultural business. I think the info gets sent to Dept of Ag when you register hives with your state. I wonder if they will call me?

[lazy shooter]

I got my first one about 10 years ago and promptly threw it in the trash.  About a month ago, I received another one.  It is still sitting on my desk.  I am not going to fill it out.  It's none of "big brother's" business.

[AllenF]

I am glad I am in a group of like minded bellow beeks.   

[buzzbee]

If you decide to fill it out the online version is a lot shorter and eliminates a lot of the questions as you go,such as go to page 7 or whatever.

[10framer]

gentlemen, big brother is simply trying to ease the burden that making your own decisions puts on you.

[Joe D]

What Census, I have a shredder next to my desk chair, never seen or got one. HaHa.




Joe

[buzzbee]

I may not renew my apiary registration if it is gonna create multi level paperwork.

[edward]

Last time they called me up i declined to partake in there survey.

They were unhappy as it would throw of the results if I did not participate and there statistics would not be representative and correct.

I then asked if there was a percentage of participants that did not take part and declined to answer?

Yes they said, good I answered put me in that category 

They have stopped calling me 


mvh edward 

[salvo]

salvo

[sawdstmakr]

I have received that d thing every year for the last 3 years. Big brother to the max. They harass me about it the first year, calling and coming to the farm for more harassment so we filed it each year. I don't think I will answer it again. I was going to answer it like I do the census, name, address and age and send it back but figured they would harass again. Has anyone looked up the law to see what is says?
Jim

[indypartridge]

While I certainly understand the "Big Brother" sentiment, there IS another side to the coin. At a state beekeepers meeting a couple years ago, we had a woman from the Ag Dept there to encourage us to fill out the Ag Census forms. She noted that the government makes funding decisions based on numbers. As an example, she pointed out that the official NASS number of bee colonies in Indiana was 7000. We had only about a hundred beeks at the meeting, and easily had well over that number of colonies between us.

Her point was that numbers add up to Political Clout. If beeks want government funding for things like Bee Labs, then the numbers have to justify it. If you want legislation in your state protecting beekeepers from pesticide spraying, the numbers have justify it. If beeks don't fill out census forms, the government concludes that we're too few for them to be concerned about.

[buzzbee]

The data is already at the state level if the hives are registered. The ones not registered probably are not reporting them on the Ag census for obvious reasons.The census form is not anonymous.

[Michael Bush]

I haven't looked it up lately, but there used to be $100 fine for not filling it out...

[buzzbee]

I am just not sure my  2 3/4 acre lot qualifies as an agricultural operation.

[Michael Bush]

>I am just not sure my  2 3/4 acre lot qualifies as an agricultural operation.

My guess is you filed a Schedule F and, despite all of the promises by both the IRS and the USDA to keep all your information private, they share...

[annette]

I just filled one out with my 2-3 hives that produce hardly any honey. It seemed like you had to fill it out.

Oh well!!

[buzzbee]

No never filed a schedule F. I still thnk they garnered the info from hive registration administered by the Pa Dept of Ag.