Duncan, OK – Oklahoma Counts! 2020 Census Counts in Rural Communities are low! The State of Oklahoma is made up of approximately 86,600 farms with the average farm size of 405 acres. The total farmland is 35 million acres. These farms produce a wide variety of products with the some of the top products being cattle, hogs, dairy and milk products, wheat, corn, cotton, chicken eggs, broilers, hay and soybeans. According to Beef2Live, Oklahoma is ranked 1st in the nation for production of rye, 2nd in the nation for winter wheat, 5th in the nation for production of grain sorghum and 5th in the production of pecans based on data from Beef2Live.com It is vital that we keep federal dollars in our communities to support agriculture and our rural fire departments.
Your community could lose $1675 per person - $1675.00 is a large number; and then multiply it by 10. Every person that is not counted in your community will cause a loss of approximately $16,750 over 10 years (if not longer) in potential funding and grant money.
Funding for what? Farms and rural fire departments across the great state of Oklahoma all need and depend on federal funding. Every year our farms are hit by tornados, storms, flooding. drought, climate, influenza in swine, pests and animal disease and much more. The Census determines the funding and services that are available to farmers in our communities, your rural fire department, volunteer fire departments and much more. In order to move our communities forward, we must count!
Share with who? – By law, the Census Bureau cannot share any of the respondents’ information with the IRS, CIA, FBI, DHS, ICE or any other federal agencies or law enforcement. The information that you share is strictly confidential.
How? –Between the middle of May – July 9 residents in rural communities will begin to receive a paper questionnaire on their door. The questionnaire can be completed and returned in the mail, be done over the phone with a 2020 Census representative or can be completed online at www.2020Census.gov
What we do in our rural communities will mold our future and the federally funded programs that we have come to depend on for the next 10 years. When you receive your questionnaire on your door, please take a moment to think about the programs that help our local farmers, your family, Oklahoma agriculture, the Pell Grant, other federally funded grants that made it possible for a loved one to go to college or university or the infrastructure needs of your community and remember that EVERY PERSON COUNTS. More information can be found at www.2020Census.gov. OK, Let’s Count! Census 2020