Federal economic data on local and regional food producers

US local and regional food systems (LRFS) garner significant support from the federal government. Congress has directed the US Department of Agriculture to collect data on farmers and ranchers that use these markets, but challenges remain. We provide information about the three national surveys that provide farm-level data on sales through LRFS, including how questions have changed over time. We highlight the benefits and challenges of using each survey from scale/scope and producer implication perspectives and offer recommendations to improve the existing survey instruments to support enhanced economic understanding of the implications of local and regional food markets.