Jul 21, 2009
Washington, DC – CropLife America (CLA) applauds the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee’s approval of $5.75 million to restore the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) chemical usage survey for Fiscal Year 2010. The Senate action follows similar activity by the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on June 1. CLA and other agriculture allies have long advocated restoration of funding for the program, previously suspended when budget limitations forced the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to discontinue the collection of data in fiscal year 2008. Previously, NASS had annually collected and published Chemical Usage Surveys on the use of crop protection chemicals and fertilizer use in U.S. agriculture, information relied upon by regulatory agencies, commodity and producer organizations alike to determine chemical use trends nationwide.
“We’re pleased both the House and Senate recognize the importance of the NASS survey system,” said Jay Vroom, CLA president and CEO. “Its reinstatement ensures an accurate view of trends in use among chemicals and fertilizer in U.S. agriculture, not only for farmers, who use such information to better serve the interests of agriculture, but for policy makers, USDA and the general public.”
If funding for the NASS survey had not been reinstated, the alternative would have necessitated outsourcing data collection to high-cost, private, proprietary data services, resulting in a restricted view of agricultural chemical use.
“We applaud the Administration for including NASS as part of its fiscal year 2010 budget proposal and the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee for supporting the Administration’s proposal and affirming the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee’s decision to restore funding to this important program, “said Beau Greenwood, CLA executive vice president for government relations and public affairs.
