Texas A&M institute releases new Texas landowner survey
Texas Land Trends survey to examine status of working lands, needs of land managers
The Texas Land Trends program of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, a part of Texas A&M AgriLife, has released the 2022 Landowner Survey for landowners who own or operate private working lands in Texas.
This voluntary questionnaire serves to gather information on the needs, preferences, concerns and challenges landowners face regarding the everyday management of property.
The Landowner Survey can be taken at tx.ag/TexasLandownerSurvey.
Released once every five years, the survey seeks to identify the special characteristics and values of the diverse people who collectively own and manage the 141 million acres of privately owned farms and ranches in Texas. It examines changes in demography, economy and natural resources of the state.
“Texas working lands are among the most productive farms, ranches, and energy producers in the country,” said Roel Lopez, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute. “Since private rural working lands comprise most of the open space in Texas, private rural landowners and their management decisions help shape our statewide resources.
“Supporting landowner stewardship makes sense because it helps conserve Texas’ rich land heritage, vital to the state’s economy.”
Survey includes six topic areas
The Landowner Survey is divided into six topic areas, including Land Management, Landowner Concerns, Land Loss/Fragmentation, Water, Hunting and Landowners.
The survey results are anonymous and will only be presented in an aggregate form. An example of past data usage can be found in the Texas Land Trends publication Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997-2017.
Presenting this survey once every five years allows data scientists to determine how landowner preferences and needs are changing over time. It also shows how Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and other natural resource agencies can work together to better understand and meet those needs.
The questionnaire should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete and is mostly multiple-choice questions. For an optimized experience, it is recommended participants take the survey on a tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Those who take the survey have a chance to enter a raffle to win one of 15 Yeti Texas Land Trends mugs.
