230. King Whetstone on the Importance of the Agricultural Census

How much do you know about the Census of Agriculture?

On this episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, we’re hosting King Whetstone who is the Regional Director of the USDA’s 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. 

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. 

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

In this episode, you’ll hear: About what the census of agriculture is 1:52 Who primarily uses the kind of confidential data that’s 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’ve ever received one 8:17 What actions are needed if you aren’t actively farming your land, but you have CRP land 12:44 About how the data is processed 17:16 Websites mentioned in the episode: 

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service
Quick Stats database

About the Guest:

King Whetstone is the Director for USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Region.  He received his B.S. from Prairie View A&M University in Agricultural Economics in 1998.  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. 

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

 

Resources:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usda_nass

 

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