[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39259-39260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17030]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

August 5, 2019.
    The Department of Agriculture will submit the following information 
collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 on or after the date 
of publication of this notice. Comments are requested regarding: (1) 
Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of burden including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to 
respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology should be addressed to: Desk 
Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC; 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. Commenters 
are encouraged to submit their comments to OMB via email to: 
[email protected] or fax (202) 395-5806 and to Departmental 
Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250-
7602.
    Comments regarding these information collections are best assured 
of having their full effect if received by September 9, 2019. Copies of 
the submission(s) may be obtained by calling (202) 720-8681.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to 
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not 
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

    Title: Agricultural Surveys Program--January Sheep Survey--
Substantive Change.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-0213.
    Summary of Collection: General authority for these data collection 
activities is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204 which 
specifies that ``The Secretary of Agriculture shall procure and 
preserve all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain . . 
. by the collection of statistics . . .''. The primary objective of the 
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is to provide data 
users with timely and reliable agricultural production and economic 
statistics, as well as environmental and specialty agricultural related 
statistics. To accomplish this objective, NASS relies on the use of 
diverse surveys that show changes within the farming industry over 
time.
    Using the Sheep and Goat Report--January 1, 2019, NASS collects 
sheep and goat inventory numbers, lamb and kid births, wool production 
and prices, death losses, and periodically NASS collects information on 
inventory losses due to predators. In January 2020 NASS would like to 
add additional questions to the predator loss section of the 
questionnaire. This is being done in response to a request by the 
Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The majority of the 
questions that will be added to the January 2020 questionnaire are 
included in the Master Questionnaire that was included in the original 
docket that was submitted to OMB for approval in April 2017. In 
addition there will be a couple of questions that were approved in the 
previous docket (Oct. 2014) relating to nonlethal predator control 
methods used on sheep farms. The few new questions that will be added 
to the survey relate to the movement of sheep from the farm, the use of 
identification tags on the sheep, the use of government trappers used 
to control predators and if the operation quit raising sheep, what was 
the reason.
    This substantive change resulted in an overall increase in response 
burden of approximately 2,800 hours or about 10 minutes per completed 
questionnaire. The sample size will remain the same.
    Need and Use of the Information: In order for APHIS to be able to 
measure

[[Page 39260]]

the effectiveness of previous measures used to curtail sheep and lamb 
losses due to predators and to determine the need for changes to future 
measures these additional questions need to be asked.
    The additional questions that will be added to the questionnaires 
will address the following topics:
     Nonlethal predator control methods used on sheep farms,
     the movement of sheep from the farm,
     the use of identification tags on the sheep,
     the use of government trappers used to control predators 
and
     if the operation quit raising sheep, what was the reason.
    Description of Respondents: Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 24,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Once.
    Total Burden Hours: 8,640.

Kimble Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-17030 Filed 8-8-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-20-P