Respondent Letter

Letter for New Participants

[Date]

Dear Mr./Ms. [Lastname]:

Enclosed please find the Prices Received Survey questionnaire, which we hope you will take the time to complete in the next few days.

The information you and others provide is important. The survey supports U.S. producers by providing information used to calculate counter-cyclical payments, disaster assistance program payments, parity prices and indexes to track trends in the farm economy, farm cash receipts, and agriculture’s contributions to the national economy. We will publish the survey findings monthly in the Agricultural Prices report.

For your convenience, you have the following options to respond:

• By Internet at http://www.agcounts.usda.gov. This method is fast, easy and secure. You will need the 17-digit response code on the survey mailing label to begin; then follow the instructions on the back of this letter.

• By mail or fax. Complete the survey questionnaire and mail it back in the return envelope provided or fax it to (XXX) XXX-XXXX.

If we do not hear from you by [Date of Non-response calling], we will contact you to arrange a telephone or personal interview. Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential, as required by Federal law. The National Agricultural Statistics Service safeguards the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

Thank you for participating in the survey and for your support of our programs and [State] agriculture. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact [Firstname Lastname] at (800) XXX-XXXX.

Sincerely,

[Director’s Name]

Director

Enclosures