Agricultural Statistics is published each year to meet the diverse need for a reliable reference bookon agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns. Its tables of annualdata cover a wide variety of facts in forms suited to most common use.Inquiries concerning more current or more detailed data, past and prospective revisions, or the statisticalmethodology used should be addressed directly to the agency credited with preparing thetable. Most of the data were prepared or compiled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The historical series in this volume are generally of data from 2003 and later.Foreign agricultural trade statistics include Government as well as non-Government shipments ofmerchandise from the United States and Territories to foreign countries. They do not include U.S.shipments to the U.S. Armed Forces abroad for their own use or shipments between the States andU.S. Territories. The world summaries of production and trade of major farm products are preparedby the U.S. Department of Agriculture from reports of the U.S. Department of Commerce, officialstatistics of foreign governments, other foreign source materials, reports of U.S. Agricultural Attacheand Foreign Service Officers, and the result of office research.Statistics presented in many of the tables represent actual counts of the items covered. Most ofthe statistics relating to foreign trade and to Government programs, such as numbers and amountsof loans made to farmers, and amounts of loans made by the Commodity Credit Corporation, etc.,are data of this type. A large number of other tables, however, contain data that are estimates madeby the Department of Agriculture.The estimates for crops, livestock, and poultry made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture areprepared mainly to give timely current State and national totals and averages. They are based ondata obtained by sample surveys of farmers and of people who do business with farmers. The surveydata are supplemented by information from the Censuses of Agriculture taken every five years andcheck data from various sources. Being estimates, they are subject to revision as more data becomeavailable from commercial or Government sources. Unless otherwise indicated, the totals for theUnited States shown in the various tables on area, production, numbers, price, value, supplies, anddisposition are based on official Department estimates. They exclude States for which no official estimatesare compiled.