LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A U.S. Department of Agriculture agency will be contacting farmers to gather year-end production and storage figures.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service also will survey grain facility operators for information on off-farm storage.

The service’s Northern Plains director is Dean Groskurth, and he says survey results are used in calculating county-level yields that have a direct impact on farmers. The USDA’s Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering programs such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage and in disaster assistance program calculations.

Groskurth says all the survey responses are kept confidential.

Survey results will be published in several reports, including the Crop Production Annual Summary and the quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released on Jan. 11.