[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]
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