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Instructions for inputting the Baseline Demographic/Clients data into PRMS (Performance Results & Measurement System)

Please contact David Buland (David.Buland@usda.gov), Economist, Natural Inventory and Analysis Institute, at 254-770-6522 with any questions.

These baseline estimates of potential (eligible) clients are for field office use in populating the potential clients database fields found in PRMS. They also have use in reporting assistance to clients for watershed and other project related activities such as EQIP, WRP, CRP, and other projects. Field offices should use this data to establish baselines, however, if they have a more accurate method or have more accurate information they may modify these baseline numbers. However, they should keep in mind that this is an attempt to provide national standardization of data and if another source of information is utilized it should be well documented and a full description of the rationale used should remain in the civil rights files at the field office.

Customer Status Choice List

Customer Status Definitions
Individual  
Race Black, White, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Other, Unknown
Gender Male, Female
Ethnicity Hispanic, Non-Hispanic
Organizational Representative An official or representative acting on behalf of a government agency, private business, community group, etc.

Customer Type Choice List

Customer Type Definitions Data Source for Total Potential Clients
Agricultural land owner/operator Person or persons representing any farming or ranching operational unit cultivating, producing crops, or raising livestock as a major source of income. Includes individuals, family farms and ranches, organizations, corporations, or businesses. Operator data from the 1992 Ag. Census. Updating with the 1997 Ag. Census when available.
Agricultural group A group of persons representing farming or ranching units cultivating, producing crops, or raising livestock as a major source of income.  
Non-agricultural rural landowner/operator Person or persons not meeting the definitions of agricultural land owners/operators, group, community, unit of government, or tribal government. 1990 US Census Home Ownership data (on national scale, use non-MSA counties)
Non-agricultural rural group A group of persons not meeting the definitions of agricultural land owners/operators, group, community, unit of government, or tribal government.  
Non-agricultural suburban and urban landowner Land owners/operators in an urban or suburban area and not meeting the definitions of agricultural landowner or rural landowner. 1990 US Census Home Ownership data (on national scale, use MSA counties)
Non-agricultural suburban/urban group A group of land owners/operators in an urban or suburban area and not meeting the definitions of agricultural landowner or rural landowner.  
Student/Educator    
Community/Non-Profit Organization    
Unit of Government Units of, or agents of, local, state, or federal government (not including Congressional Representatives), which own, operate, manage, control, regulate, or coordinate land and water management.  
Tribal Government Units of, or agents of, a tribal government, which own, operate, manage, control, regulate, or coordinate land and water management.  
Congress Representatives of Congress or those acting on the behalf of Congressional Representatives.  
Private Business / Industry / Consultant Person or persons acting on behalf of a business, corporation, or private industry.  
Private Citizens Persons who receiving NRCS assistance not fitting one of the above categories. 1997 County Population Estimates

Several known problems with this calculation that District Conservationists may consider:

  1. This data is based on the 1990 Census and the 1997 Ag. Census. In areas with significant population growth since 1990, updates on county population estimates are available at http://www.census.gov/datamap/www/index.html. The 1990, 1997, and estimated 2002 demographics are also included on this spreadsheet:

    This Document Requires Microsoft Excel
    Microsoft Excel Spreadsheetpop909702.xls (2297 KB)

    Use the percent increase in general population by race/sex/Hispanic to index the non-Ag. clients numbers up. This entire baseline should be redone after the 1997 Ag. Census and the 2000 Population Census.
  2. Areas with prisons or colleges may or may not be considered these as potential clients.
  3. The non-agricultural clients are based on home ownership numbers, not total population. This underestimates minority clients, particularly Native Americans in reservations.
  4. The Agricultural clients are based directly on the demographics of the 'operator' information collected from the 1997 Ag. Census. The definition of 'Operator' in their survey is "the individual owner, operator, senior partner, or person in charge for the type of organization". With that definition, only 9% of Ag. Census reported operators are Female. We recognized this problem, but there is no alternative data source.
  5. There was a long debate in the workgroup on using general population or home ownership data for non-agricultural clients. The decision was made to use homeownership because we primarily work with landowners, people with the power to make changes on the land resource base.
  6. The Population data is based on where people live. The Ag. Census county data is based on where the primary farm is located. But the Ag. Census Zip Code data is based on where the 'operator' lives. There are a lot of farms in the plains with zip codes in the Sunbelt or in big cities. NRCS needs to re-engineer methods of reaching these absent landowners and operators for conservation decisions.
  7. Estimated acreage for each country is included in this spreadsheet:

    This Document Requires Microsoft Excel
    Microsoft Excel Spreadsheetacreage.xls (1047 KB)

    This has the published acreage for each county by sex, by race, and by Hispanic Origin. There are 2 million acres of farmland 'missing' due to disclosure requirements. Since Acreage by farm is 'confidential', there are 0 acres listed when there are only a few minorities in a county. Since we have complete sex and racial information on the other tables, the DC will see those cases as he/she inputs the data into FOCS. Then the DC is encourage to add estimated acreage for these minorities based on local knowledge. Please estimate these 2 million missing acres in your local areas.. Use the state totals as an upper limit.

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