Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the final 2012 Census of Agriculture results sharing a wide-range of information about what agricultural products were raised in the United States in 2012, and where, how and by whom they were grown.

Lancaster County, took the top spot out of all U.S. counties with inventory of egg laying chickens at 10.7 million birds. Chester County led all U.S. counties for mushroom sales totaling $396.8 million dollars. To view the entire census, click here.

Checklists are a great way to keep on track and set priorities on servicing equipment and houses. This checklist provides handy steps for preventive maintenance on the most critical parts of animal housing environmental control systems: Fans, Evaporative Cooling, Electrical Systems, and the Backup Generator. You can print and carry this checklist with you (or give to helpers), as well as post in convenient places in your office or your houses as both reminders and records to make sure your houses and equipment keep running smoothly.

Most of these steps are not hard to do and are not expensive. However, they must be done in advance. In other words, preventive maintenance is a must!