Recent Meetings

How Does the Public Value Farmland?

In November 2003, ERS, the Farm Foundation, and other USDA agencies will host a workshop in Baltimore, MD on improving public decisions about farm and ranch land preservation. The workshop will bring together local program managers and economists who have studied the issue.

New State-Level Estimates from ARMS

For the first time, the 2003 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) will field enough questionnaires to generate statistically significant state-level estimates for the 15 states with the largest value of agricultural production, in addition to national and regional estimates. In December 2003, ERS and the Farm Foundation will host a workshop in St. Louis, MO on new opportunities to use these data. Participants will include commodity groups, state officials, conservationists, community groups, educators, and researchers.

Keeping Up With Data Developments

In October 2003, several ERS analysts and managers participated in USDA’s Data Users’ Meeting in Chicago. They highlighted ERS’s work on a system that classifies data by specific attributes, ongoing efforts to improve the factors behind calculation of per capita food use estimates, an interagency effort to develop a one-stop portal for USDA commodity data and information, and other ERS work of interest to those analyzing commodity markets. Participants included agribusiness and USDA analysts and university economists.

Economic Measurement, Methodology, and Policy

In October 2003, ERS co-sponsored the 13th Federal Forecasters Conference at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC. These conferences enable forecasters to exchange information on data issues and data quality, on forecast methodologies, and on evaluation techniques. This year’s theme was “The Right Data: Measurement, Methodology, and Policy.”