Page 8 The Skanner March 22, 2017
News
USDA Director: Agriculture Census Important for Black Farmers
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire
Contributor
PHOTO BY SHALYN WHETSTONE
A
t first glance, King
Whetstone might
present an unusu-
al visual.
First,
he
appears
younger than his 40
years — but that’s not
why he might stand out.
Whetstone once played
basketball at Prairie
View A&M Universi-
ty, a historically Black
university and the sec-
ond-oldest institution of
higher learning in Texas,
renowned for its engi-
neering and agriculture.
On
the
basketball
court, Whetstone played
against such NBA greats
as Boston Celtics legend
Paul Pierce and helped
his team to its only NCAA
Tournament appearance
in 1998 where they lost to
Kansas in the first round.
Instead of competing
tics Service
(NASS) pre-
pare for the
Census of Ag-
riculture.
“‘Ag Day’ is
a day to rec-
ognize and
celebrate the
abundance
provided
by agricul-
ture. Tues-
day, March
21 marks the
44th
anni-
versary
of
King Whetstone stresses the importance of the ‘Ag Day’ and
USDA Census for Farmers.
every year,
p ro d u c e r s ,
in the NBA, Whetstone is
agricultural
promoting “National Ag associations,
corpora-
Day” — “Ag” as in Agri- tions, universities and
culture.
government
agencies
And, he’s also trying to and others join to recog-
reach out to farmers — nize the contributions
particularly minorities of agriculture,” said
— as the United States Whetstone, the first Af-
Department of Agricul- rican-American North-
ture (USDA) and the Na- eastern Regional Direc-
tional Agriculture Statis- tor of USDA’s National
Agriculture
Statistics
Service (NASS), which
covers the six New En-
gland states, New York,
New Jersey, Delaware,
Pennsylvania and Mary-
land.
The theme this year is,
“Agriculture: Food for
Life.”
While Ag Day tops the
current list of priorities,
Whetstone and others at
the NASS make it clear
that the census is the
primary focus this year,
which counts as a com-
prehensive summary of
agricultural activity for
the United States and for
each state.
The census includes
the number of farms by
size and type, inventory
and values for crops and
livestock, operator char-
acteristics, and other
analysis.
“It’s a complete count
of U.S. farms and ranches
and the people who op-
erate them,” said Whet-
stone, a Greenville, Tex-
as native who has spent
more than 20 years at
the USDA in various lo-
cations including in New
York, Oklahoma, Hawaii,
Arkansas and Washing-
ton, D.C.
He now lives in Penn-
sylvania with his wife
of 15 years, April, and
daughter, Shalyn.
Whetstone said even
small plots of land —
whether rural or urban
— growing fruit, vege-
tables or some food an-
imals count during the
census if $1,000 or more
of those products have
been raised and sold, or
normally would have
been sold, during the
census year.
NASS has created a new
web form for the census
to make it easier for re-
spondents to participate.
Also, mailings, tele-
phone calls and other
forms of contacting
farmers are planned for
the census, taken every
five years.
It looks at land use and
ownership,
operator
characteristics, produc-
tion practices, income
and expenditures.
“Our goal is to make
sure that we have a com-
“
to respond, but stresses
that it’s a priority.
“Part of my job includes
making sure farmers
want to respond to our
surveys and censuses
and that researchers
choose to use our data
because it is the most
accurate and unbiased,”
Whetstone said.
In 2012, the census re-
vealed that the number
of Black farmers in the
U.S. stood at 44,269, a 12
percent increase over
the previous survey five
years earlier.
Nationally, Black farm-
ers made up 1.4 per-
cent of the country’s 3.2
million farmers; while
33,371
African-Ameri-
cans counted as princi-
pal operators – the indi-
vidual in charge of the
farm’s day-to-day opera-
tions, a nine percent in-
crease over the previous
census while principal
operators of all farms de-
clined by four percent.
Although farms with
Black operators tend to
be smaller than others
and with fewer acres and
lower sales, Black princi-
pal operators sold $846
million of agriculture
products in 2012, includ-
ing $502 million in crop
sales and $344 million
Black principal operators
sold $846 million of agricul-
ture products in 2012, includ-
ing $502 million in crop sales
and $344 million in livestock
plete count,” Whetstone
said. “The census [data] is
used to help shape the fu-
ture of agriculture now
and in the years to come,
so farmers are helping
themselves by partici-
pating.”
Through the census,
producers can show the
nation the value and im-
portance of agriculture,
and they can help influ-
ence the decisions that
will shape the future of
American
agriculture
for years to come, ac-
cording to the USDA.
By responding, pro-
ducers are helping them-
selves, their communi-
ties, and all agriculture
across the country and
they’re also in line to re-
ceive various grants and
other benefits that might
be available for farmers.
Officials stress that accu-
racy in reporting is key.
African-American and
other minority farmers
are of interest to Whet-
stone, an African-Amer-
ican who oversees a
diverse department of
about 45 individuals.
Whetstone said that it’s
historically been a tough
task getting Blacks and
other minority groups
in livestock while oper-
ating 3.6 million acres of
farmland.
Still, getting farmers,
especially minorities, to
respond to the census is
important to Whetstone
who, despite his hard-
wood success, has farm-
ing in his blood.
Recently, he discovered
a World War I draft card
of ancestor Neal Whet-
stone, which listed his
occupation as “farmer.”
Whetstone’s paternal
grandfather also farmed
in Lincoln, Texas and a
maternal grandfather,
Lafayette Garrett, raised
cattle in the south.
“I have found that
farmers respond to my
agency’s requests for
information when they
understand how offi-
cial government statis-
tics help them manage
risks, conserve natural
resources and promote
a healthy agricultural
production and market-
ing system in which they
benefit,” Whetstone said
in a posting on the USDA
website.
To sign up for the ag-
ricultural census, visit
https://www.agcensus.
usda.gov.