Notice2024-14633
American Community Survey Agricultural Sales and Farm Indicator Data
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 3, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Abstract
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a continuous survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, gathering detailed housing and socioeconomic data from around 3.54 million addresses in the U.S. and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico annually. It replaces the long- form census previously done once a decade, providing crucial statistics for governmental, non-profit, business, and public decision-making at various levels. To enhance efficiency and reduce respondent burden, the ACS is increasingly utilizing administrative and third-party data sources. The Census Bureau is considering using such data to replace the agricultural sales question, which has implications for federal programs and economic analysis. The proposal explores several data sources to classify properties as farms or non-farms. The Department of Commerce invites the public to comment on the proposed research to determine whether data other than survey responses can be used effectively to replace agricultural sales data currently provided by the Census Bureau that has been obtained from responses to the ACS.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55219-55221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14633]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
[Docket Number: 240620-0168]
X-RIN 0607-XC077
American Community Survey Agricultural Sales and Farm Indicator
Data
AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The American Community Survey (ACS) is a continuous survey
conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, gathering detailed housing and
socioeconomic data from around 3.54 million addresses in the U.S. and
about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico annually. It replaces the long-
form census previously done once a decade, providing crucial statistics
for governmental, non-profit, business, and public decision-making at
various levels. To enhance efficiency and reduce respondent burden, the
ACS is increasingly utilizing administrative and third-party data
sources. The Census Bureau is considering using such data to replace
the agricultural sales question, which has implications for federal
programs and economic analysis. The proposal explores several data
sources to classify properties as farms or non-farms. The Department of
Commerce invites the public to comment on the proposed research to
determine whether data other than survey responses can be used
effectively to replace agricultural sales data currently provided by
the Census Bureau that has been obtained from responses to the ACS.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments must be received on or before
August 19, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#600103130f4e1012012003050e1315134e070f16"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dbbab8a8b4f5aba9ba9bb8beb5a8aea8f5bcb4ad">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference ACS Agricultural Sales
in the subject line of your comments. All comments received are part of
the public record. All Personally Identifiable Information (for
example, name and address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may
be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information
or otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe
PDF file formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
[[Page 55220]]
activities should be directed to Elizabeth Poehler, ADC for Survey
Methods, U.S. Census Bureau, 301-763-9305,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#41242d283b20232435296f312e24292d24330122242f3234326f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c9aca5a0b3a8abacbda1e7b9a6aca1a5acbb89aaaca7babcbae7aea6bf">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing monthly survey
that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data from a sample of
about 3.54 million addresses in the 50 states and the District of
Columbia and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico each year, where it
is known as the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). The ACS also
collects detailed socioeconomic data from about 170,900 residents
living in group quarters (GQ) facilities in the United States and
Puerto Rico. Resulting tabulations from this data collection are
provided every year. The ACS allows the U.S. Census Bureau to provide
timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for
small geographic areas.
The Census Bureau developed the ACS to collect and update
demographic, social, economic, and housing data every year that are
essentially the same as the ``long-form'' data that the Census Bureau
formerly collected once a decade as part of the decennial census.
Federal and state government agencies use such data to evaluate and
manage federal programs and to distribute funding for various programs
that include food stamp benefits, transportation dollars, and housing
grants. State, county, tribal, and community governments, nonprofit
organizations, businesses, and the general public use information such
as housing quality, income distribution, journey-to-work patterns,
immigration data, and regional age distributions for decision-making
and program evaluation. The ACS is now the only source of comparable
data about social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics
for small areas and small subpopulations across the nation and in
Puerto Rico.
The ACS program provides estimates annually for all states and all
medium and large cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. For smaller
areas and population groups, it takes five years to accumulate enough
data to provide reliable estimates. Every community in the nation
continues to receive a detailed, statistical portrait of its social,
economic, housing, and demographic characteristics each year through
one-year and five-year ACS products.
The ACS collects detailed socioeconomic data on over 40 topics. The
list of topics and questions can be found here: <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/dec/planned-questions-2020-acs.html">https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/dec/planned-questions-2020-acs.html</a>.
The Census Bureau collects these data under the authority of Title
13, United States Code, Sections 141, 193, 221, and 223. By that same
law, the Census Bureau is obligated to use existing information that
has already been collected by other government agencies, whenever
possible, instead of asking for such information directly from the
public.
Following the Census Bureau's strategic plan and transformation
initiative to change our focus from being a survey-centric data
provider to a data product-focused provider of information, the ACS
program has made it a priority to use alternative data sources and
expand the use of administrative and third-party data to meet customer
needs and reduce the dependency on traditional methods of data
collection. The expanded use of administrative and third-party data in
the ACS is expected to reduce data collection costs, improve
operational efficiency, reduce respondent burden, and improve the
quality of ACS data products. The Census Bureau has begun to explore
the use of administrative and third-party data in a variety of ways for
various topics on the ACS.
Beginning in January 2024, we implemented an adaptive approach for
collecting data on property lot size (acreage) that uses administrative
property tax data purchased from a third-party vendor. We analyzed the
quality of the property tax data for acreage and developed business
rules for using the data. The acreage question is skipped when
administrative data are available.
Research is underway to determine how administrative and third-
party data can be used for other topics on the ACS. This program
announcement is specifically related to using administrative and third-
party data for the agricultural sales question.
The agricultural sales question was introduced in 1960 on the
Decennial Census housing questionnaire. The question was transferred to
the ACS when the ACS replaced the Decennial Census long-form in 2005.
The question is asked of people living in single-family attached and
detached housing units and mobile homes built on at least one acre of
land.
In the past 12 months, what were the actual sales of all
agricultural products from this property?
None
$1 to $999
$1,000 to $2,499
$2,500 to $4,999
$5,000 to $9,999
$10,000 or more
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses data from this
question to aid in calculations for its data release on National Income
and Product Accounts (NIPAs). The BEA uses the data to create a
distinction between farm and non-farm properties. They define farms as
properties reporting agricultural product sales of $1,000 or more in
the past 12 months; the remaining properties are classified as non-
farms.
Data from this question are also used in editing and imputation
procedures by the Census Bureau for employment and income.
The Census Bureau releases data on agricultural sales on the ACS
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) file; data on agricultural sales are
not included in any ACS tabulations on <a href="http://data.census.gov">data.census.gov</a>.
II. Proposal
For a question to be included in the ACS, there must be a legally
cited federal need for the data. Currently, BEA's use of these data is
the only known federally required use. The Census Bureau proposes
exploring using administrative and third-party data to satisfy BEA's
data need instead of asking the public the agricultural sales question.
This project proposes using administrative and third-party data from
multiple sources to create a variable that classifies ACS sample
addresses as farms or non-farms. The data sources under consideration
include tax assessment records on property and land use, parcel
boundary data from property tax records, survey data, Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) Form 1040 Schedule F data on profit or loss from farming,
and land cover data based on satellite imagery. Data will be assessed
for quality and a farm indicator will be formulated through statistical
modeling and business rules. The resulting indicator will be evaluated
at the microdata level and against current tabulated estimates.
The proposed farm indicator could also replace the current
agricultural sales data used in the Census Bureau's editing and
imputation procedures for employment and income data.
After research is conducted, a report will be made public on the
Census Bureau's website. The ACS is not expected to be changed before
2026. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, additional
Federal Register notices with the opportunity for public comment will
be published in the Federal Register before a change is implemented.
[[Page 55221]]
III. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to identify additional
stakeholders that use the current Agricultural Sales data on the ACS
PUMS file. We are also interested in feedback about the proposed
research.
Comments you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Robert L. Santos, Director, Census Bureau, approved the publication
of this Notice in the Federal Register.
Dated: June 26, 2024.
Shannon Wink,
Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, U.S. Census Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2024-14633 Filed 7-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 3, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.