Surveys

Prices Paid Surveys and Indexes

Prices Paid Surveys and Indexes Survey

NASS conducts five surveys every year in mid-March to collect information from agribusinesses on the prices producers paid for recent sales of approximately 450 key agricultural inputs. The prices paid surveys collect information on agricultural chemicals (including fertilizer), farm machinery, feeds, fuels, and retail seed.

NASS uses the price estimates to calculate the Index of Production Items, which is one of five components in the overall Prices Paid Index for Commodities and Services, Interest, Taxes, and Farm Wage Rates (PPITW). The other PPITW component indexes are a) interest paid and interest rate on farm indebtedness, b) taxes paid on farm real estate, c) wage rates paid to hired farm labor, and d) prices paid for family living items.

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Charts and Maps:
Prices Paid: Indexes for All Items and Production Items by Month, US
Indexes for All Items and Production by Month
Prices Paid: Indexes by Farm Type and Month, US
Indexes by Farm Type and Month, US
Prices Paid: Indexes, Annual Averages for Production, Interest, Taxes, and Wages by Year, US
Annual Averages for Production, Interest, Taxes, and Wages by Year
Prices Paid: Indexes by Origin and Month for All Production Items, US
Indexes by Origin and Month for All Production Items
Prices Paid: Indexes by Non-farm Origin and Month for Chemicals, Fertilizer, and Fuels, US
Non-farm Origin and Month for Chemicals, Fertilizer, and Fuels
Prices Paid: Indexes by Non-farm Origin and Month for Machinery, Supplies and Repairs, US
Non-farm Origin and Month for Machinery, Supplies and Repairs
Prices Paid: Indexes by Farm Origin and Month, US
Indexes by Farm Origin and Month, US
How the Indexes Are Used

Prices paid indexes are inputs for a number of important functions performed by various agencies:

  • NASS uses the Parity Index to compute parity prices under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 as amended, Title III, Subtitle A, Sections 301a.
  • The Agricultural Marketing Service uses state milk marketing orders, prices paid indexes, parity prices, and import prices to determine support prices.
  • NASS publishes private grazing fee data in the January Agricultural Prices under an agreement with the Forest Service (FS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
  • FS and BLM use the private grazing fees, the November-October average beef cattle price, and the Beef Cattle Production Index (1964-1968=100) to determine the Federal grazing fee lease rate under the Public Rangeland Improvement Act.
  • The Economic Research Service uses average price data for selected machinery, retail seeds, and fertilizer, chemical, and petroleum products to determine annual cost of production budgets under the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990. These data series are essential for reliable estimates of costs for wheat, feed grains, cotton, tobacco, sugar, and dairy.
  • NASS derives feed price ratios from prices received data and modeled ratios where applicable. These feed price ratios are available historically in QuickStats.
  • Producer/contractor production agreements are set using component indexes.
  • USDA, universities, market researchers, and others use prices paid time series data to conduct economic analyses relating to farm income and alternative marketing policies.
Additional Information

For information about the Prices Paid survey and index methodology, please click here.

For information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727‑9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@usda.gov.

Last Modified: 04/18/2024