2012 - Oregon State Library: State Employee Information Center

Oregon Agriculture & Fisheries Statistics
OregOn Agriculture &
Fisheries stAtistics
This year marked the 150th anniversary of
President Abraham Lincoln signing into law the
creation of the United States Department of Agriculture.
A central purpose for President Lincoln to create the “people’s department” was the
collecting, arranging, publishing, and disseminating, for the benefit of the nation, statistical
and other useful information in regard to agriculture.
The first crop report, in July of 1862, was the department’s first attempt to survey the
condition of crops in the young nation and help inform farmers. One purpose of the
report was to halt speculation among producers, consumers, and others by establishing a
system to routinely gather crop information from the most reliable source—the farm—and
disseminate summary estimates nationwide.
Today, the National Agricultural Statistics Service proudly carries forth this responsibility.
We are pleased to present our 30th edition of the Oregon Agriculture & Fisheries Statistics
report. These data are prepared and printed through a special cooperative agreement
between the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Field Office of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service, and provide a comprehensive summary of the state’s
agriculture—both current and historic.
The foundation of our current crop and livestock reporting system is the thousands of
producers whose voluntary cooperation provided the basic data for this publication. To
them we say thank you for their time and efforts. Our dedicated staff of office and field
enumerators, employed by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
(NASDA), relentlessly strive to obtain the best information about Oregon agriculture. We
also appreciate their contribution to this publication.
Sincerely,
Christopher A. Mertz, OASS Director
2012 Agripedia iii
Agripedia—Introduction