230. King Whetstone on the Importance of the Agricultural Census

Published: May 9, 2023, 1 p.m.

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How much do you know about the Census of Agriculture?

On this episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, we\\u2019re hosting King Whetstone who is the Regional Director of the USDA\\u2019s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Region. In his role, he is committed to providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics that will help those working in U.S. agriculture.\\xa0

King will share about the Census of Agriculture which occurs every five years. The census provides the only source of consistent, comparable, and detailed agricultural data for every county in America. Prior to becoming the Regional Director, he served as the Director for the New York Field Office and the Deputy Director in the Hawaii Field Office.\\xa0

Tune in to hear all about the importance of the Census of Agriculture and how you can contribute.\\xa0

In this episode, you\\u2019ll hear:

  • About what the census of agriculture is 1:52
  • Who primarily uses the kind of confidential data that\\u2019s produced by the USDA 3:39
  • The average age of farmers 5:07
  • Why some people get multiple surveys 5:35
  • About how a farmer would take a USDA farmer survey if they\\u2019ve ever received one 8:17
  • What actions are needed if you aren\\u2019t actively farming your land, but you have CRP land 12:44
  • About how the data is processed 17:16

Websites mentioned in the episode:\\xa0

USDA\\u2019s National Agricultural Statistics Service
Quick Stats database

About the Guest:

King Whetstone is the Director for USDA\\u2019s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Region.\\xa0 He received his B.S. from Prairie View A&M University in Agricultural Economics in 1998.\\xa0 Prior to becoming the Regional Director, he served as the Director for the New York Field Office and the Deputy Director in the Hawaii Field Office.\\xa0

\\xa0In addition to leading the Northeastern Region, Mr. Whetstone is a regular contributor to Lancaster Farm News and officiates Division I college basketball.\\xa0 He currently resides in Mechanicsburg, PA with his wife April and daughter Shalyn.\\xa0\\xa0

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Resources:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usda_nass

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