The Department of Agriculture has submitted an information collection requirement to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, as mandated by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This submission involves a survey conducted by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), focused on collecting statistics about farmer cooperatives, such as their business volume, net income, and financial status. The data collected is vital for the RBS's mission to support and understand agricultural cooperatives, and the results are used by various stakeholders including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and educational institutions. Interested parties can provide comments on this information collection until March 1, 2021, through the website provided.
Simple Explanation
The Department of Agriculture wants to ask farmers questions to understand how their co-ops are doing, but some people think they need to be more careful about how they ask, make sure everyone counts, and keep answers secret.