ARMS Conference
State Discussion
Data to Serve 21st Century Agriculture:
Expanding ARMS
St. Louis, Mo.
Dec. 4-5
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Explanatory variables for state economy
Policy impacts – commodity, resource,
conservation
Budget validation
Practices and trends
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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Lending institutions, Farm Bureau, commodity
organizations, cooperatives
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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End user data in query database, formal training on
ARMS, newsletter
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Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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Web access, sorting ability
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Please identify any existing (or potential) multi-state or multi-organizational activities in
agriculture and the food system that could use ARMS data.
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Cost data on watershed basis, regional
impacts of conservation, water use
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Engage respondents more – flyers, reports, results
Tie survey results to report
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What questions do you still have?
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Mechanisms for sending out information?
What if don’t have ARMS?
Concern for potential void of data with alternative
agriculture.
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Texas
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Policy issues, Section 18, Texas Department of
Agriculture, additional EQIP info (who participates,
why, etc.)
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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Office of Rural Community Affairs
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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Give ‘em CEUs!
Show usefulness for understanding rural
economies
Texas
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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Outside input on new questions
Earlier outside input so that it is effective
Principal operator off farm income
Questions about spouse, new farmers, how farm
got started
What succession plans or opportunities did
farmer have
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Pre survey letter, press release, work with county
agent
Missouri
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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ERS publications and website
Validate representative farms for FAPRI
Cost of production survey info
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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Production scientists (not just economists); Legislature;
Environmental Groups
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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Have state statistician available to speak to AgEcon
departments and other academic departments
Credit ARMS in extension and producer group education
Educate policy advocates (like Farm Bureau and lobbyists) to
use ARMS
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Missouri
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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Emphasize and credit ARMS data in producer
presentations
Make state level data available locally and
disaggregate by county or ERS typology region
Keep the cost to request data low
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Please identify any existing (or potential) multi-state or multi-organizational activities in
agriculture and the food system that could use ARMS data.
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Extension program leaders, technical service providers, ag
industry council, crop scouts, industry consultants,
poultry integrators (environmental issues)
Missouri
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Emphasize the connection between surveys and
the results of these surveys.
Send card explaining survey before contact
Use FSA newsletters and NRCS
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What questions do you still have?
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How easy it is going to be to query and
disaggregate state level data?
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California, Washington
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Bankers, processors, policymakers, chemical
companies, commodity commissions, educators,
researchers
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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WTO (anti-dumping evidence), communications to
public on agricultural issues, farmland
preservation
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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Cookies, money, explain benefits, pesticide
registration, show importance to state legislature
California, Washington
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Recommendations
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Change name to Food and Agriculture Resource
Management Survey
Obtain information needed by producers
(number of buyers, value-added costs,
distribution channels)
Encourage costs statistics to include costs of
implementing change
Include commodities in Phase II of greatest
importance to state.
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Kansas, Nebraska
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Cross check for other data sets, research projects,
extension projects focusing on regional issues,
state farm income level modeling, state structural
issues.
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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State agencies, legislature, commodity
organizations
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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Education, show trends to ag groups
PROBLEM – often get questions ARMS data can
not answer
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Kansas, Nebraska
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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ERS participation on regional research
projects, data access!, post information
on website timely, more minor crops,
increase NASS visibility
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Please identify any existing (or potential) multi-state or multi-organizational activities in
agriculture and the food system that could use ARMS data.
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Regional research projects, Farm Record
Association, farm organizations
Kansas, Nebraska
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Remain credible with all forecasts, show benefits
to producers, data users and organizations must
know what the data are.
Make point that their data is important for
representing their type of operation
Pay producers
Make clear that regulatory agencies do not have
access to the data.
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Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Policy decisions to save family farm, extension
education programs, bankers, rural development,
legislature, farm credit institutions
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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Chamber of Commerce, agribusiness, economic
development agencies
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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Usable form, state level/county level, education,
responsible party in each state for education
Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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Informational update meetings, ERS/NASS visit,
acknowledge data source, demonstrate data
usefulness, indicate cost of data collection.
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Please identify any existing (or potential) multi-state or multi-organizational activities in
agriculture and the food system that could use ARMS data.
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Annual Large Herd Seminars, production
practices and profitability, Lewis/Clark water
project, legislative conference, secretary of
agriculture/commission of agriculture
conference, Midwest governor conference
Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Education on value of information, easy accessible
data, acknowledge source of data, use commodity
groups/farm organizations, well trained data
collectors, PR, importance of data for farm
programs, state competition
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What questions do you still have?
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Would Farm Foundation support an annual meeting
with state representatives for an update?
Illinois, Indiana
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How do you think ARMS data will be used in your state?
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Describing farm organization membership
Financial snapshots
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Who else in your state could use these data?
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Farm organizations, local government, medical
community
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How can the people/groups identified above be encouraged to use ARMS data?
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More information on ARMS
Publicity
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Illinois, Indiana
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What could ERS, NASS and your land grant university do to facilitate your use of ARMS data?
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Publicity, ERS seminars at land grants,
complete list of data.
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Please identify any existing (or potential) multi-state or multi-organizational activities in
agriculture and the food system that could use ARMS data.
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National record keeping service.
cross-state cooperatives.
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Illinois, Indiana
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Please identify any ideas for encouraging farmers to participate in the ARMS survey.
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Success stories
Publicity
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What questions do you still have?
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What happens without ARMS?