A new USDA annual survey of farmers, ranchers and private forest operators aims to identify areas where the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency are succeeding or can better serve constituents.
USDA in the next few weeks will send the survey to about 28,000 producers. All producers are encouraged to take the survey, available at farmers.gov/survey.
The 20-question survey is part of the President’s Management Agenda requiring high-impact service providers, including FSA and NRCS, to conduct annual surveys to measure service quality and respond to areas needing improvement, agency news releases said.
For example, producers are asked to describe the operation receiving service, and how satisfied they were. Responses are confidential.
“We recognize producers and our staff may be experiencing a lot of change in how they interact with USDA,” said FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce. “This is a good time to check in with our customers.”
“Customers have an opportunity to have their voices heard on how working with us goes,” NRCS Idaho spokeswoman Mindi Rambo told Capital Press. “The more data we have, the better we are going to be able to pinpoint areas where we excel or where we could use a little improvement.”
USDA plans to keep the survey open for at least six weeks, and post results and planned actions at farmers.gov in the fall.
