How will the Next Census of Agriculture Influence Foundation Programs?

by Wadell Altom

The Noble Foundation's Agricultural Division used information from the 1997 U.S. Census of Agriculture to guide its strategic planning decisions, which were implemented in 2000.

Some of the major points from the 1997 report dealing with the Foundation's 47-county service area are listed here:

42 percent of Oklahoma farm operators and 36 percent of Texas farm operators list their principal occupation as farming (spending 50 percent or more of his/her work time farming or ranching).
The average farm size is 330 acres (smaller than reported in 1992).
Approximately half of the farm operators are age 55 or older.
There are more than 2.8 million cattle in the service area.
Approximately 29 percent of the farms have gross sales over $100,000.

The data from the 1997 census led the Agricultural Division to direct consulting efforts toward providing services for "full time" and "part time" farm and ranch operations — with the expectation that about 40 percent would be full time and 60 percent part time. The Foundation defined an "income independent" producer (part time) as one who spends less than 50 percent of their working time on the farm or ranch and sells less than $100,000 of agricultural products. An "income dependent" producer is defined as one who spends more than 50 percent of their working time on the farm or ranch, or sells more than $100,000 of agricultural products.

It has been interesting to compare the actual numbers of income independent and income dependent Foundation cooperators with the expected numbers. As of April 15, 2002, we had 398 income independent and 373 income dependent cooperators listed in our database. That is not what we expected.

A closer examination of our definitions reveals some of the problem — a retired person with a small farm can spend more than 50 percent of his/her time on the farm and a person with a career other than farming or ranching can have more than $100,000 in gross sales. Therefore, we should expect these categories to be slightly different from the agricultural census groupings. Since Jan. 1, 2002, 33 income independent and 17 income dependent cooperators have been assigned to the four consulting teams.

We have planned additional educational events to provide information for cooperators, especially income independents. The response to these seminars, schools and tours has been good. Between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2002, we hosted 21 cooperator educational events (total attendance of 345), one adult tour and five student tours, one cooperator tour to the farm of a cooperator, and one cooperator tour to other facilities. In addition, two events connected with the Junior Beef Excellence Program had 180 adults and 120 students attending educational sessions about beef carcass quality.

An outside committee recently reviewed our research and demonstration projects and the operations of our five farms. Their recommendations will help us plan future projects and management of the farm resources. We want these farms to provide useful information to the producers in our service area and beyond. So as you manage your farm or ranch and review new information and technology, let us know about your needs for local evaluations and demonstrations.

In order to adequately serve the needs of land managers in our service area, we must constantly evaluate our services, the needs of land managers, services provided by others and the factors that impact land managers. We are already speculating about what the next agricultural census data will show and how we may need to respond.

Occasionally, some of you call or visit with us and mention possible ways we can better serve your needs. Please continue to share your ideas. Russell Stevens mentioned deer management and burning associations in the May issue, and we are curious if there are other potential associations that would benefit you and other producers. Your input is needed to help us plan for the future.