Livestock Data Problems in the Census of Agriculture

Abstract

IVESTOCK and livestock production represent a major part of U. S. L agriculture. The sales of livestock and livestock products account for more than half of the value of all farm products sold. The inventory value of all livestock and poultry exceeds 10 billion dollars and is equivalent to about $2,500 per farm. More than 90 percent of all farms have some livestock and poultry. However, livestock production is the most important farm enterprise on only about a third of a million farms and the concentration of livestock production on a smaller number of farms has been increasing during recent years. For example, 86,000 dairy farms now have more than one-fifth of all the milk cows and sell more than two-fifths of all dairy products. About 41,000 poultry farms have about one-fifth of all the chickens and sell about three-fifths of all the poultry products. The 300,000 farms on which livestock and poultry production is the most important enterprise have over one-fifth of all the cattle, a third of all the hogs, one-half of the sheep and one-fourth of all the poultry in the United States. These 300,000 farms account for over one-fourth of all cattle sales, two-fifths of the hog sales, two-thirds of the sheep sales, and more than half the dollar sales of all livestock and livestock products. These background data indicate the importance of livestock and livestock production in our agricultural economy. Reasonably accurate data on livestock and livestock production are of significant economic importance to several hundred thousand farmers. They are essential to minimize blindman's bluff in the market place. Since its beginning in 1840, the Census of Agriculture has been concerned with the collection and publication of data regarding livestock and livestock production. Generally, the amount of data collected regarding livestock and poultry increased from census to census, although the number of inquiries in recent censuses has been limited in order to improve quality of the data and to provide for the collection of other information. In analyzing the census experience covering 16 nationwide censuses and almost 120 years, one concludes that the nationwide collection of satisfactory livestock data for 4 to 6 million farms is a difficult task and involves a number of problems. Even the job of obtaining a count of livestock is fraught with difficulties. Livestock numbers change every day of the year. Marketing is a continuous process. Livestock inventories are