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History

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Agriculture FAQs

The United States has collected data on the nation's agriculture since U.S. marshals inquired about families' agricultural pursuits in 1820. Over the next 190 years, the census of agriculture grew to reflect changes in American agriculture, including types and uses of machinery, irrigation, and fertilizer.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the census of agriculture, but it still relies on U.S. Census Bureau employees to collect these vital data.

census employees - farm census
Census Bureau employees sort the tens of thousands of punch cards containing data from the 1935 Farm and Ranch Census.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Census History Staff | Last Revised: December 14, 2023