[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 230 (Friday, December 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68626-68628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26276]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Agricultural Statistics Service


Notice of Intent To Request To Conduct a New Information 
Collection

AGENCY: National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics 
Service (NASS) to seek approval to conduct a new information collection 
to gather data regarding production practices, costs and returns, and 
contractor expenses. This data is currently being collected under OMB 
number 0535-0218.

[[Page 68627]]


DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by February 1, 2022 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number 0535-
NEW, by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include docket number 
above in the subject line of the message.
     eFax: (855) 838-6382.
     Mail: Mail any paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions to: 
David Hancock, NASS Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Room 5336 South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20250-2024.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Hand deliver to: David Hancock, 
NASS Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 5336 South 
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin L. Barnes, Associate 
Administrator, National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, (202) 720-4333. Copies of this information 
collection and related instructions can be obtained without charge from 
David Hancock, NASS--OMB Clearance Officer, at (202) 690-2388 or at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Agricultural Resource Management phase 3 Economic Surveys.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-NEW.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to create a new 
information collection for a period of three years.
    Abstract: The Agricultural Resource Management Survey(s) (ARMS) are 
the primary source of information for the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture on a broad range of issues related to: Production 
practices, costs and returns, and contractor expenses. Data are 
collected on both a whole farm level and on selected commodities. This 
Notice and information collection will focus on the ARMS phase 3 
Economic Surveys, previously included in the Agricultural Resource 
Management and Chemical Use Surveys Information Collection Request (OMB 
Control Number 0535-0218).
    The ARMS phase 3 Economic Surveys are the only annual source of 
information available for objective evaluation of many critical issues 
related to agriculture and the rural economy, such as: Annual whole 
farm finance data, including data sufficient to construct estimates of 
income for farms by: Type of operation, loan commodities, income for 
operator households, credit, structure, and organization; marketing 
information; and other economic data on input usage, production 
practices, and crop substitution possibilities.
    Data from ARMS are used to produce estimates of net farm income by 
type of commercial producer as required in 7 U.S.C. 7998 as amended and 
estimates of enterprise production costs as required in 7 U.S.C. 
1441(a) as amended. Data from ARMS are also used as weights in the 
development of the Prices Paid Index, a component of the Parity Index 
referred to in the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended. 
These indexes are used to calculate the annual federal grazing fee 
rates as described in the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 and 
Executive Order 12548 and as promulgated in regulations found at 36 CFR 
222.51, as amended.
    In addition, ARMS is used to produce estimates of sector-wide 
production expenditures and other components of income that are used in 
constructing the estimates of income and value-added which are 
transmitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) for use in 
constructing economy-wide estimates of Gross Domestic Product. This 
transmittal of data, prepared using the ARMS, is undertaken to satisfy 
a 1956 agreement between the Office of Management and Budget, and the 
Departments of Agriculture and Commerce that a single set of estimates 
be published on farm income.
    In this approval request for the next three years; the ARMS 3 
surveys will overlap with the 2022 Census of Agriculture (conducted in 
2023, OMB Control Number 0535-0226) and the Tenure, Ownership and 
Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL, OMB Control Number 0535-0240) 
which will be conducted in 2024. In January 2023, the farm operators 
selected to complete the ARMS phase 3 survey will have the option of 
completing either the ARMS 3 questionnaire or the Census of 
Agriculture, but will not have to do both. The ARMS phase 3 
questionnaire contains the same essential questions as the Census.
    In 2024, farm operators who are selected to complete the ARMS phase 
3 and the TOTAL survey will have the option of completing the ARMS 3 
questionnaire and not having to complete the TOTAL survey. The ARMS 
phase 3 questionnaire contains the same essential questions as the 
TOTAL.
    The commodity specific questionnaire versions that are scheduled to 
be conducted in the next three years are included in the following 
table.

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                                                                                                  Year survey is
          Crop year                    Survey               Target commodity      Reference year     conducted
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2022........................  ARMS phase 3............  CRR/Censes..............            2022            2023
                                                        wheat...................            2022            2023
2023........................  ARMS phase 3............  CRR.....................            2023            2024
                                                        soybeans................            2023            2024
                                                        oats....................            2023            2024
                                                        peanuts.................            2023            2024
                                                        broilers................            2023            2024
2024........................  ARMS phase 3............  TOTAL...................            2024            2025
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    Authority: These data will be collected under the authority of 7 
U.S.C. 2204(a). Individually identifiable data collected under this 
authority are governed by section 1770 of the Food Security Act of 
1985, 7 U.S.C. 2276, which requires USDA to afford strict 
confidentiality to non-aggregated data provided by respondents. This 
Notice is submitted in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (at 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and Office of Management and Budget 
regulations at 5 CFR part 1320.
    All NASS employees and NASS contractors must also fully comply with 
all provisions of the Confidential Information Protection and 
Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2018, Title III of Public Law 
115-435, codified in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35. CIPSEA supports NASS's pledge of 
confidentiality to all respondents and facilitates the agency's efforts 
to reduce burden by supporting statistical activities of collaborative 
agencies through designation of NASS

[[Page 68628]]

agents, subject to the limitations and penalties described in CIPSEA.
    Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of 
information is estimated to average approximately 95 minutes per 
respondent.
    Respondents: Farmers, ranchers, farm managers, farm contractors, 
and farm households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Up to 40,100 respondents will be 
sampled each year for the ARMS phase 3 Economic Surveys.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: Up to 64,000 hours 
per year.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, technological or other forms of information 
technology collection methods.
    All responses to this notice will become a matter of public record 
and be summarized in the request for OMB approval.

    Signed at Washington, DC, November 10, 2021.
Kevin L. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-26276 Filed 12-2-21; 8:45 am]
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