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The Ohio Agricultural Statistics Service (OASS) will be contacting farmers in October and November for three studies – on vegetable chemical use, agricultural resource management and conservation effects assessments.

The first survey will require the help from producers of processing cucumbers, fresh market tomatoes and fresh market sweet corn. According to an OASS news release, an interviewer will contact vegetable producers beginning Oct. 8 through Nov. 5 to gather information on chemicals used, acres treated and rates applied. Individual grower information is confidential. USDA hopes the results, which will be published in July 2005, will clarify facts about chemical use in agriculture.

A second study will gather information about U.S. production practices for soybeans and wheat as well as the cost of production for winter wheat. Fewer than 6,500 of the nation’s 2 million farm operators will be asked to participate in this Agricultural Resource Management study. OASS said 200 soybean and 150 winter wheat producers in Ohio will be included in the national figures.

Ohio farm operators selected to participate will be notified by letter, and interviewers will visit them to collect reports between Oct. 2 and Nov. 19. USDA will publish national information on agricultural chemical use and analyze commodity production costs and returns in a series of reports during 2005.

The third survey, the National Resource Inventory – Conservation Effects Assessment Project, will help provide a picture of environmental and conservation management conditions on U.S. farms. Answers from this survey will be used to estimate potential benefits achieved through farm conservation programs. In Ohio, 370 operations will be included in the survey.