ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)

United States Department of Agriculture - Economic Research Service - The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America...

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		Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)

overview

The Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is USDA's primary source of information on the financial condition, production practices, resource use, and economic well being of America's farm households. Sponsored jointly by ERS and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), ARMS began in 1996 as a synthesis of the former USDA cropping practice, chemical use, and farm costs and returns surveys, which dated back to 1975. ARMS data are essential to USDA, congressional, administration, and industry decisionmakers when weighing alternative policies and programs that touch the farm sector or affect farm families. In short, ARMS is the mirror in which American farming views itself.

ARMS data underpin USDA's annual estimates of net farm income, subsequently provided to the Bureau of Economic Analysis for developing annual estimates of gross domestic product and personal income. The ARMS survey fulfills a congressional mandate that USDA provide annual cost-of-production estimates for commodities covered under farm support legislation. ARMS also provides data regarding chemical use on field crops required under environmental and food safety legislation.

contents

features

ARMS Update—As part of ERS' commitment to improve knowledge of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey process and access to the aggregate data products, ERS has developed a newsletter to publicize ARMS status, schedule, and data availability. Subscribe to the ARMS Update.

Crop Production Practices—Phase II of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is USDA's primary source of information about the current status and trends in crop production practices for major crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton). This survey also obtains data on U.S. farmers' agricultural resource use, as well as data to assess potential environmental impacts associated with crop production practices. The ARMS survey yields annual data summaries for field-level data by crop, including: irrigation technology and water use, nutrient use and nutrient management practices, crop residue management practices, pest management practices and pesticide use, and crop seed variety. Data summaries are available for production years 1996-2000 (1996-98 and 2000 for wheat).(1/03)

Agricultural Income and Finance Situation and Outlook Report—Net value added is forecast at $82.4 billion for 2002, down $8.5 billion (9.3 percent) from 2001. Net value added is a measure of the contribution of agricultural production to the national and State economies. It is also a measure of the income earned by those participants who contribute resources for a predetermined payment (stakeholders) and those who contribute resources with the expectation of receiving additional financial rewards for sharing in the risks of production. AIS-79 (9/02)

recommended readings

Characteristics and Production Costs of U.S. Rice Farms — Regional differences in production practices, farm characteristics, and growing conditions were major influences on production costs among U.S. rice producers in 2000. Three-quarters of rice production was concentrated on large and very large farms, categories that included nearly two-thirds of all rice farms, but the link between size of enterprise and production costs for rice is weaker than for other commodities. At the marketing-year average price of $5.61 per hundredweight, 78 percent of rice farms were able to cover operating costs and 43 percent covered both their operating and ownership costs of rice production in 2000. After accounting for Government payments, nearly all rice farms (97 percent) were able to cover operating costs in 2000, and about 84 percent were able to cover both operating and ownership costs. (03/04)

Characteristics and Production Costs of U.S. Dairy Operations —The total costs of producing milk vary across the U.S. Milk producers in the West had a significant cost advantage in 2000 over producers in other regions because their operations were much larger. Operations with 500 or more milk cows had significantly lower operating and ownership costs, indicating economies of size. Also, differences in animal performance, feed efficiency, and labor efficiency were critical in determining whether producers were in the low- or high-cost group for producing milk. (02/04)

Adoption of Bioengineered Crops—This report uses USDA survey data to examine the extent to which US farmers have adopted bioengineered crops, factors affecting adoption of these crops, and the impacts of bioengineered crops on input use and farm-level net returns.

Food and Agricultural Policy: Taking Stock for the New Century —Sets out principles for equipping the food and agriculture sector to operate in a modern business environment that is globally integrated, highly competitive, technologically advanced, and environmentally conscious, and which must respond to increasingly sophisticated consumers. The arguments put forth in chapters 3 and 5 of the report are based in large part on ARMS data that provide a detailed picture of the diversity of U.S. farms.

Pest Management in U.S. Agriculture—Describes the use of pest management practices, including integrated pest management (IPM), for major field crops and selected fruits and vegetables. Data came chiefly from ARMS. Because different pest classes may dominate among different crops and regions, requiring different pest management techniques to control them, the extent of adoption of pest management practices varies widely. This variation is captured by the detailed cropping practices information collected in ARMS.

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recommended data

ARMS Data Highlight Trends in Cropping Practices—Since 1996, U.S. farmers have responded to a number of industry-altering changes, including lower crop prices, the availability of genetically engineered seed, and environmental incentives embodied in farm legislation. How have these shocks affected farming and conservation practices used by farmers? Amber Waves (02/03).

Farm Financial Management Data—Updates ARMS data previously available on farm business financial management and the ERS farm typology. Standard financial statements (income statement, balance sheet) and financial ratios are summarized for various classifications of farms such as farm type, economic class, region, and operator age. The typology tables include standard financial statements as well as structural characteristics for all farms in both a three-category typology (rural residence, intermediate, and commercial farms) and the full eight-category typology. In addition, selected financial information is provided for farm operator households and family farms.

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