Responding to USDA On-Farm Energy Survey Aids Pursuit of 25x'25 Goal
USDA is undertaking this month a survey that can provide a snapshot of the on-farm energy development at the very heart of the 25x’25 Vision. Farmers, rancher and forestland owners are urged to participate in this survey by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which intends to gather more information on how farmers generate and use the energy from methane digesters, solar panels or wind turbines on their operations.
Forms are being mailed out this week to some 20,000 producers nationwide who indicated on the 2007 Census of Agriculture that they engaged in on-farm energy production. The new survey is an initial effort to gain more information about how the energy is generated and used, and to find new ways to promote farm-based renewable energy projects.
The survey is a chance for farmers and ranchers to highlight the steps they are taking to produce renewable energy within their operations, which is helping to reduce our dependence on energy from foreign sources. The survey results will provide agricultural producers, policy makers and the public with factual data about the economic and environmental implications of on-farm energy production.
Like the U.S. census, a response to the on-farm energy survey is required by law. However, for farmer convenience, USDA is making the survey available online using a secure Web-based response system. Producers will need their survey form in hand, but can then go online to www.agcensus.usda.gov and select “Respond Online” and enter the survey ID number printed on the form’s address label. Form recipients are required to complete and return forms, or respond online, by May 24.
It’s important to note that survey respondents are guaranteed by law that their individual information will be kept confidential. NASS uses the information only for statistical purposes and publishes data only in tabulated totals. Once aggregated, the information will be made available online in February, 2011, at the USDA agriculture census Web site.
Although this is the first time the survey is being conducted, it won’t be the last. With the first survey focusing on wind turbines, solar panels and anaerobic digesters, NASS is expecting to expand its data collection efforts in future years to look at a full spectrum of issues related to the agriculture sector’s production and use of renewable energy.
Participation in the survey provides the kind of information that the agriculture industry and policy makers can use to assess the viability of on-farm energy production. That information can, in turn, lead to the acceleration of renewable energy production and allow the nation’s farms, ranches and forestlands to provide the resources that can meet 25 percent of our nation’s energy needs by 2025.
Responding to the survey is another step toward a 25x’25 future that will bring about benefits that include $700 billion in new economic activity annually by 2025; the creation of four to five million new jobs; a reduction in oil consumption by 2.5 million barrels per day – 10 percent of U.S. projected consumption in 2025; and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tons – two thirds of projected emissions growth by 2025.
Responding to the survey is a step toward allowing policymakers to embrace with confidence the knowledge that renewable power sources can meet our future power needs just as effectively and maybe at lower cost than other, traditional power sources. And the on-farm energy survey is a valuable opportunity for producers to show their ongoing commitment to the environment.
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