USDA Floriculture Survey Under Way

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) have begun collecting
data from 6,300 floriculture operations in 15 states for the 2011 Commercial Floriculture Survey.

This survey is the only comprehensive annual measure of U.S.floriculture production.

“The Commercial Floriculture Survey provides Maryland growers the opportunity to serve as the frontline source of data on floriculture production,” said Barbara Rater, director of the NASS Maryland Field Office. “This vital information will help identify state and national trends in areas such as new product development and changing production practices so that growers can make vital business decisions and evaluate the results of the growing season,” Rater added.

Originally, NASS planned on cancelling the 2012 survey, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave a last-minute reprieve to to the annual floriculture report in December.

All commercial floriculture growers that produced and sold at least $10,000 of target floriculture crops at retail or wholesale in 2011 will be asked to provide information on production, sales of floriculture commodities and the number of agricultural workers in their operation.

Growers’ participation in this survey helps ensure that NASS will be able to provide timely, accurate and unbiased information on floriculture production. “

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. Facts about an individual’s operation are used only in summation with reports from other producers in order to generate statistics for each participating state and the nation.

Survey responses will be compiled and published in NASS’s Floriculture Crops Summary on May 24, 2012.

This and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov.