What is ARMS and What Does it Mean to You

1
What is ARMS?andWhat Does it Mean to You?

• Kitty Smith
• Director, Resource Economics Division
• Economic Research Service, USDA

2
A
R
M
S
3
Agricultural
R
M
S
4
Agricultural
Resource
M
S
5
Agricultural
Resource
Management
S
6
Agricultural
Resource
Management
Survey
7

• What is ARMS?
• The only annual, national-level, representative
  survey of U.S. farm operations and households
• USDAs main source of knowledge about the
  financial condition, production practices,
  resource use, and economic well being of farm
  households

8

• ARMS Origins
• A combination of three surveys formerly conducted
  separately
• Farm Costs and Returns
• Cropping Practices
• Agricultural Chemical Use
• Merged in 1996 as ARMS

9

• Why are ARMS data collected?
• ARMS is the only and/or the best source of
  various information that USDA is mandated to
  provide.
• ARMS provides an incredibly rich basis for
  characterizing farming and farm households, and
  for analyzing the implications of actions or
  events for farms and farming stakeholders.

10
ARMS data can be used to answer, for example

• How will rising energy costs affect the U.S. farm
  financial situation?
• In what ways are Northeastern dairy farms/farmers
  the same as/different from Western dairy farms/
  farmers?
• Are small farmers or large farmers more likely to
  adopt conservation practices?

11

• How are the benefits of adoption of genetically
  engineered seed distributed among different
  stakeholders?
• How prevalent is contracting, and who
  participates in contract arrangements for
  production or marketing of particular livestock
  commodities?
• How important is the farming business to the
  well-being of farm households?

12

• ARMS is a USDA survey
• ERS provides direct funding for the conduct of
  ARMS NASS funds supplement
• ERS and NASS collaborate on the content and
  design of ARMS questionnaires
• NASS designs and draws the survey sample based on
  both ERS and NASS priorities for coverage and
  statistical reliability
• NASS handles survey enumeration

13

• ERS develops financial statements and other
  summary data from the raw data, and provides a
  public use data set.
• ERS posts data summaries on its Web site
• Everyone in each USDA agency takes responsibility
  for activities that guarantee the confidentiality
  of individual responses.

ARMS is a USDA survey
14
But ARMS data and information are public goods.
15

• How will rising energy costs affect the farm
  financial situation in my state??
• In what ways are Wisconsin dairy farms/farmers
  the same as/different from California dairy
  farms/ farmers, and what does this imply for
  State-level positions on dairy policy proposals?
• How can Extension services in my State target
  those farms with characteristics that make them
  more/less likely to adopt conservation practices?

16

• How are the benefits of adopting genetically
  engineered seed being distributed among farmers,
  landowners, and agricultural input firms in my
  State?
• How prevalent is contracting in my State, and who
  participates in various kinds of contracting
  arrangements in my State?
• How important is the farming business to the
  well-being of farm households in my State, and
  what does this imply for rural development needs?