NASS carries out its many surveys with the support of State departments of agriculture, land-grant universities, and the agricultural industry, details of which are outlined in a series of cooperative agreements. The agreements provide financial support from State governments and sectors of the agricultural industry, enabling NASS to collect detailed data on commodities important to local economies, county estimates, and other items not covered by Federal funds. Through its network of Field Office's, NASS works closely with producer organizations in the States.

The cooperative programs enhance the effectiveness of agricultural estimates in the States and, even more important, prevent duplication of effort in acquiring data from operators and in setting estimates of States' agricultural production.

This tradition of cooperation has served U.S. agriculture well; cooperative agreements generate a great deal of information at minimal cost, lighten the burden on survey respondents, and help maintain consistency in the estimates produced by different public agencies.