(NAFB) – USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service mails the National Agricultural Classification Survey this month.

The survey goes to more than a million potential U.S. agricultural producers, in preparation for the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The survey will ask recipients if they are involved in agricultural activity and for basic farm information. Response to the survey is required by law for all who receive the questionnaire, even if the recipient is not an active farmer or rancher.

USDA defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are produced and sold, or are normally sold, during the year. The definition was first used for the 1974 Census of Agriculture and is consistent across USDA surveys.

Census and Survey Division Director Barbara Rater says the survey “is one of the most important early steps to determine who should receive next year’s Census of Agriculture.”

Questionnaires can be completed online or by mail. The response deadline is January 24.