News Release
August 28, 2008

New extension publication harvests data from ag producers in three states

 A snapshot of agricultural producers in Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado is outlined in a new publication available from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES).

A survey of 2,645 producers in the three states provided data intended to help extension in the three states better serve constituents; it also provides demographics, income, resource management, reasons for involvement and information on crop and livestock production.

The survey was conducted by extension educators and researchers in the three states in cooperation with the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Preliminary results are provided in B-1190, A New Look at the Agricultural Community as Extension Clientele in the West. The publication is available online at http://ces.uwyo.edu/Search_Start.asp. Put B-1190 in the Publication Number search box.  Then click on the title in the Click on Publication Title to view box. Information to order a hard copy, which cost $15, will be on the Web site.

“The rural West has experienced dramatic demographic and economic transformations over recent decades,” said John Hewlett, UW CES farm and ranch management specialist and one of the authors. “The make-up of farm operators has changed significantly, and enterprises are increasingly at greater production, financial, marketing, human and institutional risk.”

            To design effective risk management education programs, a better understanding of the make-up of farm operators is needed to address questions such as who are today’s farmers and ranchers, said Hewlett.

            For example, the survey found 71 percent of those responding held off-farm employment. Those who said cattle and beef are their primary source of income numbered 698, 400 listed hay, and 125 said sheep and goat production.

            According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, there are 48,085 farms in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. Seventy-eight percent of all farms in these three states have annual gross sales of less than $50,000.

“Most farm operators own and live on their own properties and operate them as sole proprietorships,” said Hewlett. “Small-scale operations constitute a sizable portion of farmers and ranchers involved in crop and livestock production.”

More background on the project, including other papers and posters outlining findings from the research, may be found at RuralFamilyVentures.org.

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Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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