E-mail: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov
(518) 457-5570

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:  Brent Farley
Thursday, September 24, 2009

www.nass.usda.gov/ny

                  VEGETABLE ACREAGE AND PRODUCTION SURVEY
                              TO BE CONDUCTED

The New York Field Office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS) will be conducting a Vegetable Acreage and Production survey
during October and November.  This survey will gather information on
vegetable acreage planted and harvested and amount of vegetables produced
in New York during 2009.

Results from last year’s survey established New York’s rank as 5th in the
nation for production of fresh market vegetables and 6th in the nation for
production of processing vegetables.  NASS data is used by the USDA Farm
Service Agency and crop insurance companies to determine payments to
producers in the event of a disaster, and crop advisors look at NASS data
to determine their recommendations.  Agricultural experiment stations use
the information to help with research into new and better varieties of
vegetables and new and better ways of controlling pests.

Response to this survey is voluntary; however, every response is important
for New York’s vegetable production to be accurately represented.

We safeguard the confidentiality of all survey responses,” says Stephen
Ropel, Director of the New York Field Office.  "Data about individual
operations are used only in conjunction with information from other
producers."   The National Agricultural Statistics Service is even exempt
from the Freedom of Information Act, so producers can be guaranteed that
their individual data will not be released to any person or any other
agency.

All agricultural statistics published by NASS are available free of charge
at www.usda.gov/nass/.  For more information, call 1-800-821-1276.

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9-24-09