March 18, 2010

Farmers and other rural Virginians stand to benefit from census

RICHMOND—U.S. Census forms arrived in 120 million mailboxes earlier this month, and the state’s largest farm organization is encouraging rural Virginians to stand up and be counted.

“If the federal government doesn’t know Virginia’s farmers are out there, that impedes effective representation and countless services for their communities,” said Martha Moore, vice president of governmental relations for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “It’s absolutely critical that everyone participate in the census, because we have this opportunity only once every decade.”

The census, which is required every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution, is intended to count every resident of the United States. It helps determine the number of seats that each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives, and for 35 years states have used census data to configure their legislative and Congressional districts. Census data also helps communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds for schools, hospitals, emergency services, public works projects, job training centers and other programs.

This year’s census form has 10 questions and comes with a postage-paid return envelope. Personal data provided on census forms is protected under federal law.

Americans are being asked to return their forms on or around April 1. Between April and July, census takers will visit households that do not return a form by mail.

Information about the census is available online at 2010.census.gov. The national mail participation rate in 2000 was 72 percent; in Virginia it was 73 percent.

Contact Moore at 804-290-1013.