FARM CENSUS DEADLINE MAY 1

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160251
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-14   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short
FARM CENSUS DEADLINE MAY 1
The Census Bureau's Agriculture Division is giving farmers and ranchers until May 1 to complete and return their 1992 Census of Agriculture forms.
Agent Joe Hunnings of the Montgomery County Virginia Cooperative Extension Service office said the agriculture community has returned about 75 percent of the census forms, which had been due in March.
Census data are used to allocate billions of dollars in federal farm money each year. Hunnings said census data determine the distribution of extension program money, each county's conservation reserve program cropland acreage, farm disaster relief and farm loan money.
Hunnings said states and counties with low census reporting rates may not get their fair share of agriculture-related money or services. He said even people no longer actively farming should fill out and return a census form to help provide a complete picture of American agriculture.
For more information on the 1992 Census of Agriculture, or to get a report form, call (800) 233-6132.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB