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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 Washington Field Office is located in Olympia, Washington.
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 voluntary surveys conducted by each state 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 state 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 (such as the Department of Ecology) and private organizations.
The Washington Field Office publishes several reports which are available on the Internet. Our Annual Bulletin is now available exclusively on our webpage as PDF files. E-mail subscriptions are also available.
The Weekly Crop-Weather Report and the bi-weekly AgriFacts Report and the Press Reports are available. If other e-mail subscriptions become available, the information will be posted here.
Washington's Agriculture
The geography of Washington is very diverse, ranging from rain forests in the extreme western part of the state to semi-arid regions in the interior. The Cascade Mountains divide the state into two distinct regions. The western side of the state contains the majority of the population, located in urban areas, while the central and eastern regions are more sparsely populated. Farms in the west tend to be small, and dairy products, poultry, and berries are the primary commodities produced. The eastern side of the Cascade Range has larger farms, and small grains such as wheat and barley, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables are the primary commodities produced.
Washington's farmgate value of production for all agricultural
products was approximately $6.9 billion, ranking 12th in the
nation for 2006. The value of crops at $4.6 billion, placed
the state in the 7th ranked position. Livestock products totaled
$1.6 billion and ranked 27th. Agricultural production, processing,
and marketing account for approximately $29 billion of the
state's total economy, or about 13 percent of the gross state
product. In recent years, apples have overtaken wheat and
dairy products as the state's leading commodity. Over half
of the nation's apple crop is produced in Washington. Milk,
wheat, potatoes, and cattle and calves round out the top five
commodities. Washington ranks among the top 10 states for
33 separate commodities, and leads the nation in production
of hops, spearmint and peppermint oil, wrinkled seed peas,
apples, Concord grapes, Niagara grapes, pears, sweet cherries,
and red raspberries.
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