A sample of about 100 vegetable growers across Indiana will soon be contacted by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) Great Lakes Region to participate in a survey focusing on pesticide applications and pest management practices.

Conducted in the fall, the Vegetable Chemical Use Survey is a study conducted every two years focusing on farm operators’ use of chemicals on selected vegetable crops.

Vegetable growers will be asked to provide information on their pesticide applications and pest management and spray practices for pumpkins and watermelons.

“Participation in these surveys is vital to all agricultural industry stakeholders.” said Nathanial Warenski, state statistician with the NASS Indiana Field Office. “Responses from vegetable growers to the VCUS will help ensure that chemicals critical to vegetable production remain available on the market. While these surveys can be lengthy and complex, trained and experienced enumerators can work with respondents to make the process go smoothly and relatively quickly.”

The importance of these surveys cannot be understated, Warenski said.

“All sectors of the agriculture industry — producers, buyers, suppliers, policy makers, and others — rely on vegetable chemical use data to make sound business decisions,” he said. “All of them rely on information generated through this survey. That’s why it’s so important that farmers take the time to participate and ensure that we have the most accurate and up-to-date information, straight from the source.”

Warenski said the confidentiality of those responding to the survey is protected by law.

“NASS strictly safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregated state and national data, ensuring that no individual

producer or operation can be identified,” he said.

For information about the survey and other surveys conducted by NASS, contact the Great Lakes Regional Office at 800-453-7501 or visit the NASS web site at nass.usda.g