Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: salvo on February 03, 2013, 03:34:53 pm
-
Hi Folks,
I'm going into my third year beekeeping.
A few weeks ago I received the "2012 Census of Agriculture" ( I file a schedule F). I responded today, online. Pretty easy.
link here:
http://agcensus.usda.gov/ (http://agcensus.usda.gov/)
There were very few questions directly related to beekeepers,...chemical costs,...value of crop,...total gross sales,... value of equipment. It would not let me "select, copy, paste, save" or I'd post it here. It would only save as a web page.
I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. Has anyone else filled this out?
Any discussion value to this census???
Is this similar to "gun registration"? (Just jokin') :shock:
Salvo
-
I don't file it. Don't need them knowing what I've got or doing.
-
What Allen said
-
I filed with a bunch of zeroes. I have bees in my backyard,hardly an agricultural business. I think the info gets sent to Dept of Ag when you register hives with your state. I wonder if they will call me?
-
I got my first one about 10 years ago and promptly threw it in the trash. About a month ago, I received another one. It is still sitting on my desk. I am not going to fill it out. It's none of "big brother's" business.
-
I am glad I am in a group of like minded bellow beeks. :-D
-
If you decide to fill it out the online version is a lot shorter and eliminates a lot of the questions as you go,such as go to page 7 or whatever.
-
gentlemen, big brother is simply trying to ease the burden that making your own decisions puts on you.
-
What Census, I have a shredder next to my desk chair, never seen or got one. HaHa.
Joe
-
I may not renew my apiary registration if it is gonna create multi level paperwork.
-
Last time they called me up i declined to partake in there survey.
They were unhappy as it would throw of the results if I did not participate and there statistics would not be representative and correct.
I then asked if there was a percentage of participants that did not take part and declined to answer?
Yes they said, good I answered put me in that category :-D
They have stopped calling me :deadhorse:
mvh edward :-P
-
(http://s11.postimage.org/mm0tg4kcv/emily.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/mm0tg4kcv/)
(http://s3.postimage.org/yg21dz9e7/emily_2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/yg21dz9e7/)
salvo
-
I have received that d thing every year for the last 3 years. Big brother to the max. They harass me about it the first year, calling and coming to the farm for more harassment so we filed it each year. I don't think I will answer it again. I was going to answer it like I do the census, name, address and age and send it back but figured they would harass again. Has anyone looked up the law to see what is says?
Jim
-
While I certainly understand the "Big Brother" sentiment, there IS another side to the coin. At a state beekeepers meeting a couple years ago, we had a woman from the Ag Dept there to encourage us to fill out the Ag Census forms. She noted that the government makes funding decisions based on numbers. As an example, she pointed out that the official NASS number of bee colonies in Indiana was 7000. We had only about a hundred beeks at the meeting, and easily had well over that number of colonies between us.
Her point was that numbers add up to Political Clout. If beeks want government funding for things like Bee Labs, then the numbers have to justify it. If you want legislation in your state protecting beekeepers from pesticide spraying, the numbers have justify it. If beeks don't fill out census forms, the government concludes that we're too few for them to be concerned about.
-
The data is already at the state level if the hives are registered. The ones not registered probably are not reporting them on the Ag census for obvious reasons.The census form is not anonymous.
-
I haven't looked it up lately, but there used to be $100 fine for not filling it out...
-
I am just not sure my 2 3/4 acre lot qualifies as an agricultural operation.
-
>I am just not sure my 2 3/4 acre lot qualifies as an agricultural operation.
My guess is you filed a Schedule F and, despite all of the promises by both the IRS and the USDA to keep all your information private, they share...
-
I just filled one out with my 2-3 hives that produce hardly any honey. It seemed like you had to fill it out.
Oh well!!
-
No never filed a schedule F. I still thnk they garnered the info from hive registration administered by the Pa Dept of Ag.
-
This was the second year I got the census and filled it out. This was also the second year that the Dept. of Agriculture got my name mixed up with an alternative energy wind farm up in Plataka. I called the Dept of Ag. about it and got a little bit of a run around trying to straighten it out. I filled in zero's for most of the information. They want the census filled out even if you didn't do any farming for the year, go figure.
-
I had a small pasture I was trying to reclaim years ago and let a fellow run some goats on it to clean up the weeds. He turned in 30 goats, and 1 orphaned lamb for 5 months. We let our kids pet goat run with the mob too. Wound up somehow on the ag dept. "sheep and goat census". It took me five years to get off that dang thing. I called every year, but finally got ahold of the right person and got removed from the list.
-
Dirt Road,
How did they get your name on the list in the first place. If your not zoned agricultural and not claiming a farm business, where do they get the name from? Too much big brother.
Jim
-
> Too much big brother.
And big brother assures me that all my responses will be confidential...
-
A guy named Finch told me the following:
"You are being watched. The government has a secret system: a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it. I designed the machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything. Violent crimes involving ordinary people, day-to-day activities, people like.... beekeepers, EVERYONE. Crimes and activities the government considered irrelevant. We work in secret. You'll never find us, but victim, perpetrator or beekeeper, if your number's up... we'll find you". :-X
Salvo
-
Dirt Road,
How did they get your name on the list in the first place. If your not zoned agricultural and not claiming a farm business, where do they get the name from? Too much big brother.
Jim
Everything out here is zoned Ag, but there had never been sheep or goats on the place before. Maybe they had someone driving around taking notes? No idea how they picked it up. I believe you're right, "too much big brother!
-
A few years back I received a questionnaire about my dairy cattle. It even had a threat of being fined if not filled out correctly. I telephoned the USDA and finally found someone who knew what I was talking about, but that person kept on going back to the 60 dairy cows that I milked. Of all the things I have owned or wanted to own, a dairy cow has never been in, or wanted in my pastures.
I wrote on the form in big cursive letters with a felt tipped pen, "I don't own any dairy cows." I mailed it to them and never heard from it again. There is a lot of confusion in the USDA.
-
They had to get Mine from My tax form. I took a deduction for materials and equipment then It started. I have gotten them for a few years now. I fill them out and state that mine are all feral hives and stated that I am just the slum lord and never make a profit because of constant up keep. they stated that I had to make a profit after 3 years. and I stated that If they can find a way to make money on less that 50 hives to let me know what I'm doing wrong. ;). they stated I was a farm. I said no I live on a lot in a niegborhood and the bees travel 3-5 miles to other places. I just put in the hive numbers with no dollar amounts. they questioned it one time and I told them to find out from the place they got my name if they think I make money. ;)
John
-
I would think that the US Dept. of Ag. got a lot of thier information from the individual state's Dept. of Ag. Once your name gets on the state list as a farmer it gets sent over to the US Dept of Ag. I know I'm on at least one list as a beekeeper, I keep getting calls about selling bulk honey or wax. I haven't been able to tell if the calls are legit or phishing, I just tell them I'm a hobby beek and don't produce enough to sell to the public. I'm zoned R/A like all the other lots in my area so being a beekeeper must of put me on the radar.