Who We Are and What We Do:
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The agency's primary responsibility is to prepare official estimates of agriculture for the nation, and for each state. There are 45 field offices that serve all 50 states. The New England field office operates through a cooperative agreement between USDA and each of the six states that comprise the New England region. These states are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The New England Agricultural Statistics Service office is responsible for agricultural statistics in all six New England states and it is centrally located in Concord, NH.Field offices collect, verify, and analyze data which are used to prepare statistical estimates. Farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses are the grassroots source of information, collected through surveys conducted by each field office throughout the year. Survey data are collected and summarized at the state level to provide statistical indications. These indications are analyzed by statisticians in each field office who then make recommendations to the national headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Statisticians in headquarters review the state recommendations and issue the state and national estimates to the public on scheduled dates throughout the year. About 300 national and 9,000 state reports are issued annually. Cooperative agreements with State governments also permit preparation and publication of county-level estimates of crops and livestock for many states. In addition, many field offices conduct surveys for other government agencies and private organizations.
New England Agricultural Statistics publishes several state-level reports which will are accessible on the Internet and free e-mail subscriptions. Mailed hard copies are also available by subscription. These reports include:
- Weekly Crop Weather Reports on crop development (published May through October)
- Monthly reports about crops, livestock, poultry, farm labor and other agricultural items (published at the end of each month)
- Cash receipts statistics describing income received by farmers for commodities sold (published in September)
- Maple Syrup production and prices (published in June)
- Cranberry (Mass) production forecasts, final acreage, production and prices (published in August and January)
- Potato (Maine) acreage, yield, size and grade report and a biennial chemical usage report (published in December and March, respectively)
- Wild Blueberry (Maine) production forecasts, final production and prices (published August and October)
- An annual bulletin includes most of the estimates published by the field office during the year and presents ten years of data for most series. Special features are included such as county data from the most recent Census of Agriculture, farm population statistics and more. (published in January)
State-Level Reports: In an effort to reduce administrative and postage costs, we ask that you consider obtaining these state-level publications from the Internet. However, free subscriptions to the hard-copy reports listed above are available to farmers and agri-businesses that provide data to this office. The news media, state and local governments and educational institutions are also eligible for these reports at no charge. All others must pay a user fee as described in the State-Level subscription form. If you still want a hard copy of these free state-level publications, please use the subscription form found on the page that lists New England Agricultural Statistics Publications.
National-Level Reports: All national reports and e-mail subscriptions are all available on the Internet via the NASS home page. If you still want hard-copies, call 1-800-999-6779 for more information about products and services from ERS-NASS (a free catalog is available).
New England's Agriculture:
New England Field Office Profile:
The office is located in Concord, New Hampshire, the State's capital city. Our building, the Ralph Pill Market Place, is 2 blocks from the downtown shopping area next to exit 14 on Interstate 93. The closest commercial airport is 25 miles south in Manchester, NH. Boston is 70 miles south. Canada is 135 miles north of Concord. The rustic brick building has been remodeled into an attractive, comfortable work site. It is easily accessible from the surrounding area for field travel and enumerator workshops. Parking is free and virtually unlimited within half a block from the entrance. We are collocated with the Farms Service Agency's Service's New Hampshire State Office. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior has a regional office in the building. Both of these offices are on the 4th floor. We occupy the 3rd floor alone since our expansion in May 1992 moved Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, Animal Disease Control into another building. Other occupants include the Federal Defender Branch Office, March of Dimes, Physical Therapy, Beauty Shop, Insurance Company, a Cellular Phone Company and an Electrical Supply Company. Several lunch facilities are within easy walking distance from the building as are banks, bus station, auto repair garage and a host of downtown shops. The Holiday Inn is about 2 blocks away; the Comfort Inn and Hampton Inns and a few other motels are within a short driving distance. Aubrey Davis and David Luckenbach are the current Director and Deputy Director respectively. Aubrey has also served in Texas, Virginia, California and Hawaii in addition to a tour in headquarters. David's trail to New England covered Tennesee, North Carolina and headquarters in Washington, DC. The New Hampshire SSO is a GM-14 office with 18 federal employees covering the six New England states. A NASDA staff of about 50 field and office enumerators cover the region's 26,000 farms. Concord is a quiet New England town of 36,000 people, part of the 118,000 residents in Merrimack County. It is situated on the Merrimack River, 288 feet above sea level. Temperatures in Concord average 21.1 degrees in January, our coldest month and 69.9 degrees in July, usually the hottest time of the year. Annual normal precipitation is 50.3 inches. Snowfall records indicate an annual average of 65.0 inches. However, Concord received over 112 inches in 1996, a new record high for the 20th century! Concord has some light industry, most of it in the electrical products field. Thirty-eight percent of the 56,000 work force is involved in manufacturing. Forty percent work in printing, publishing and advertising. Insurance, banking, retail stores and government employees account for much of the remainder. Colleges in the area include Franklin Pierce College, Franklin Pierce Law Center, New England College, New Hampshire College and New Hampshire Technical Institute. The University of New Hampshire, part of the Land Grant System, is about 40 miles east in Durham, NH. Tourism, a major industry in New England, offers snow skiing within 1/2 to 3 hours of Concord. "Leaf Peeping" is a favorite activity during the fall foliage season. Racing enthusiasts now have the New Hampshire International Speedway less than 30 minutes north in Loudon, NH. Outlet shopping is a popular venture within 2 hours of the office, including L.L. Bean in Freeport, ME. The Atlantic Ocean is an hour away and many beautiful fresh water lakes are even closer, making water sports and fishing available for anyone with an interest. Hunting, including bear, moose, deer and several fowl species are in close proximity to the Concord area.
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