Farmers/Growers are urged to complete the Census of Agriculture surveys. Although Feb. 5 was the deadline, a USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service representative said the Ag Census website https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cawi was strained due to heavy traffic on Monday so it will be accepting census survey responses until February 9. Farmers can get extensions to March 27 by calling 800-727-9540. They'll also be contacting people who haven't responded.
As of Feb. 2, only 26 percent of California farmers had responded.
It is critical for California growers and ranchers to fill out the survey so that California is represented in policy making and investments.
According to a NASS news release, "The census is the only source of uniform, comprehensive, and impartial agriculture data for every state and county in the nation. Producers are required by law to respond; NASS is required by the same federal law to keep all information confidential, use the data only for statistical purposes, and only publish in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation."