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Show Commissioners support Census of Agriculture ' Census Bureau is seeking the cooperation of each county's agriculture and business leaders and local officials. "'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers." Shakespeare The Iron County Commission Com-mission issued a proclamation last week supporting the 1978 Census of Agriculture now being conducted by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Depart- , ment of Commerce. Noting that the county benefits greatly from farming, far-ming, the proclamation points out that "many business decisions made by the county's farmers, as well as those who do business with them, depend heavily upon accurate benchmark data from the Census of Agriculture." The proclamation urges the county's farm operators to complete the census questionnaires accurately and return them promptly to the Census Bureau. Similar proclamations are being issued by officials of other counties and state governors in support of the census, the 21st in a series which began in 1840. The current census will update the findings of the most recent farm census taken in 1974. Censusjigures are needed in making sound economic decisions. Many National and State programs affecting agriculture are designed or allocated on the basis of census data. For example, funds for extension work, research, soil conservation, and other services are based on census data. The more dependent a county is on agricultural income, the more vital census information in-formation becomes, Census Bureau officials point out. Private industry uses the statistics from the agriculture census to provide a more effective production and distribution system for the farm community. com-munity. A major railroad uses county-by-county data to allocate the proper number of boxcars to various locations throughout the Nation. One company may use the data to locate a feed mill and another to locate a tractor dealership in order to provide better service and competitive prices for farmers. While surveys are made regularly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department Depart-ment of Commerce, provides the needed benchmark ben-chmark or check point on which to develop other data. Since the first farm census was conducted in 1840, the census has been the only source of uniform data at the county level on agricultural production and inventories. Originally taken every 10 years, farm census data have been collected every five years since 1910. The present census has been advanced by one year to bring it into phase, starting in 1982, with the Census Bureau's economic censuses. cen-suses. Because a successful farm census depends upon farmers far-mers and ranchers completing com-pleting their report forms accurately and quickly, the |