ALBANY COUNTY — The year 2022 has come and gone, but the United States Department of Agriculture is hoping that any farmer who has yet to fill out the agricultural census for last year will do so by the end of spring, when the department will stop taking submissions. 

The ag census is conducted once every five years and, like the general census, is used by policymakers, the media, and other organizations as they seek to understand the makeup of the country’s agricultural population.

There are approximately 440 farms in Albany County, covering nearly 18 percent of the county’s 523 square miles of land, according to the 2017 Ag Census. More than a third of the county’s farms made less than $2,500 that year. 

The Enterprise has used data from the agricultural census when reporting on overtime pay for farmhands, Albany County’s farm protection plan, and the impact of solar development on farmland.  

But perhaps most importantly, census counts can drive the distribution of funding according to how many and what kind of farms occupy a county or state, among other metrics. 

Anyone who raises or sells $1,000 worth of agricultural goods is legally required to fill out the census, according to the USDA.

“So many people who do not think they are farmers actually are, according to this official definition,” the USDA says. “If you have horses, backyard chickens, urban or rooftop gardens, etc., you may qualify for the ag census.”

Someone who is not a farmer may get a census form by accident because the USDA pulls names from a variety of sources based on the likelihood that the person may be a producer. 

Anyone in this situation who fills out the census, where they will note that they are not a farmer by the USDA definition, will then be removed from the department's list of possible producers, the USDA says.