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ARMS is an annual survey of farm and ranch operators
administered by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS). Survey data on field-level production
practices, farm business accounts, and farm households
are summarized, synthesized, and used in analyses by ERS.
ARMS is a multiple-phase survey. In the fall, NASS interviews
producers of major commodities, such as feed grains, food
grains, or cotton, to collect information about production
practices and land use for a selected field on their operation.
In the spring, NASS reinterviews farmers that successfully
completed the fall survey. Spring data collection focuses
on the structural and economic characteristics of the
farm business and farm operator households. This approach
helps link commodity production activities and conservation
practices with the farm business and operator household.
Each phase of ARMS contains multiple versions of the survey
questionnaire.
The commonality of questions across versions provides
one facet of data integration. In the fall data collection,
the target commodity distinguishes questionnaires. The
spring data collection has two distinct survey instruments.
The larger of these two versions (both in terms of sample
size and content) is personally enumerated and designed
to collect policy-related information, in addition to
basic farm and operator household financial and demographic
information. A smaller core version, which collects essential
farm and household financial information, ensures a sufficient
sample to generate statistically reliable information
for major agricultural States. The core version is enumerated
using three stages of collection beginning with a mail
questionnaire form, followed by phone and, if necessary,
personal interview.
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