Justification for Change to 0535-0248

Justification for Change to 0535-0248

Census of Horticultural Specialties – Pre-Testing

Generic Clearance of Survey Improvement Projects (0535-0248)

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is preparing to conduct testing of the Census of Horticultural Specialties survey. NASS will be conducting both cognitive interviews and a mail out – mail back testing. The two different methods of testing are scheduled to be conducted in seven States (CA, FL, IL, MI, NC, PA and TX). The test States were selected due to the diversity of horticultural products produced in the different regions of the country. The cognitive testing involves conducting 3 to 5 interviews in each of the States and the mail test involves contacting 15 to 20 respondents in the test States.

	Number of Respondents	Hours	Total Burden Hours
Cognitive Testing	35	1.5	52.5
Mail Out – Mail Back Testing	140	1.0	1 140.0
Totals	175		192.5

Out of the total burden hours approved for testing, NASS is requesting that 193 hours be allocated to the Census of Horticulture testing.