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Oregon producers sought for Chemical Use Survey

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[5]“NASS will contact selected Oregon producers to arrange in-person interviews for conducting the survey. As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law.”
By Agri-Business Council of Oregon [6]

Fruit growers will be contacted this fall by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to participate in the 2009 Fruit Chemical Use Survey. NASS will survey growers in 12 states, including Oregon, to collect information on pesticides and fertilizers used, acres treated and rates applied to more than 20 fruit crops.

“Because of the issues facing today’s fruit growers, participation in this survey is vital,” said Christopher A. Mertz, director of the NASS Oregon Field Office. “The Fruit Chemical Use Survey gives growers the opportunity to tell how they use agricultural chemicals responsibly to produce a safe, abundant, low-cost and high quality food supply.”

The Fruit Chemical Use Survey, last conducted in 2005, will provide much needed information on the current crop production practices used in the United States. The survey was just recently reinstated to meet grower and consumer demand for the data. The results will help clarify the facts about chemical use in agriculture.

“Information published from the Fruit Chemical Use Survey is used in the decision-making process for the Food Quality Protection Act, which has an impact on pesticide registrations, re-registrations and product alternatives,” said Mertz. “It is an important tool that helps support the regulatory program that protects the health and safety of agricultural producers and consumers alike.”

NASS will contact selected Oregon producers to arrange in-person interviews for conducting the survey. As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law.

“NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state and national-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” Mertz said.

Survey results will be published in the Fruit Chemical Usage report, to be released in July 2010. This and all NASS reports are available on the agency’s web site: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Oregon Field Office at (800) 338-2157.