2007 Census of Agriculture data available online
Contact: Mike McCurry
Phone: (605) 688-4899
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The county-by-county data from the 2007 Census of Agriculture became available online on Feb. 4.
The 2007 data is the latest available from the Census of Agriculture, which is updated every five years.
South Dakota State University sociology researcher Trevor Brooks said the data is available at a U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site, www.agcensus.usda.gov. More than 50 tables and appendices break down on a statewide basis or by individual counties everything from farm numbers and size of farms to facts about crop production.
The information will be very helpful not only for local governments, but also for farmers themselves and for organizations such as farm cooperatives. Brooks said precise data about crop and livestock production can help make agribusiness projects make decisions about where to site processing facilities, for example.
South Dakota State University Rural Sociology Specialist Mike McCurry said the survey also provides a record over time of change in American agriculture. Previous census of agriculture data is available at the same Web site listed above.
“One of the fun things about following the Census of Agriculture over 30 or 40 years is that we can watch crops move into the state and become very important crops,” McCurry said. “For example, if you go back into the 1970s, soybeans were just barely becoming a crop in South Dakota. Now they’re an essential crop.”
In coming months SDSU rural sociologists will be analyzing the 2007 Census of Agriculture for a number of reports about rural trends to help South Dakotans better understand the changes that are taking place, McCurry and Brooks said.
AgBio Communications Unit
South Dakota State University
ACC, Box 2231, Rm 200
Brookings, SD 57007
Telephone: (605) 688-4653
Lance.Nixon@sdstate.edu