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The Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service (VASS) is the main data gathering agency in Virginia with the purpose of collecting, compiling and providing current agricultural statistics. This service is provided in cooperation with the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). The primary goal of VASS is to provide producers of agricultural commodities with unbiased and reliable information to assist them in making production and marketing decisions. Other important users of agricultural statistics are producer organizations, agribusiness and transportation firms, state and national policy-makers, and foreign buyers of Virginia produced products.

VASS, like all State Statistical Offices, submits recommendations to its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Commodity experts review all State recommendations and issue State and National estimates to the public on scheduled release dates throughout the year. Cooperative agreements with State governments permit additional estimates to be made at the State and/or county level for some commodities. NASS field offices collect and analyze data which are used to prepare statistical estimates. Farmers and agribusinesses provide the data which are collected through a broad program of sample surveys throughout the year. Survey data are collected by mail or through interviews conducted by telephone or in person. Statistics compiled by VASS are published nationally along with other states in NASS Agricultural Statistics Board reports, and are summarized locally in state-level reports throughout the year. Mailed hard copy reports are available by subscription. These reports include:

Weather Crop -- Provides current agricultural progress and summarizes current crop and livestock conditions. Published weekly during the season.
            
Broilers -- Provides a hatchery summary of broiler chicks hatched and placed for Virginia and the United States. Published weekly.

Crops and Livestock -- Summarizes the major monthly, quarterly and annual reports compiled by VASS. Topics include crop production, livestock inventories, agricultural prices, and statistics for many other agricultural commodities. Published semi-monthly.

Annual Bulletin -- A complete summary of state and county agricultural statistics. Published annually in September.

All reports issued by VASS continue to be free of charge to Virginia farmers and agribusiness firms who provide the basic data and to cooperating USDA and Virginia State agencies. Reports are also free to the news media, libraries, and firms providing agricultural inputs to Virginia growers. Others are required to pay an annual fee as shown on the subscription form in order to recover postage and mailing costs. If you would like to subscribe to any of these publications, download the DOS text form.

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Virginia's Agriculture

Agriculture with a farmgate value of $2.46 billion is the number one industry in the Commonwealth. Many people associate Virginia agriculture almost exclusively with tobacco and peanuts. While these commodities are very important, livestock, poultry, and their products provide considerably more in terms of cash receipts. Broiler production is Virginia's number one agricultural enterprise, followed by cattle and calves, milk, and turkey production. Tobacco, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, fresh market tomatoes, and hogs round out the top ten commodities from the Commonwealth's 47,500 farms.

Thanks to the wealth of diverse topography in the state, Virginia's agricultural industry is one of the most well-balanced in the country, and her products are recognized and sought after both domestically and abroad for their superior quality. While the state's operators have long produced a balanced and varied mixture of traditional crops and livestock products, Virginia agriculture is also dynamic, and the recent upsurge in the number of small specialty farms in the state is evidence of Virginia's ability to adapt to a changing marketplace. And certainly, horses, goats, grapes, horticulture, and other specialty crops have all become viable contributors to the state's economy in recent years. As an example, the value of our state's greenhouse/nursery industry is rapidly growing and totaled over $190 million in 2003.

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