WASHINGTON (DTN) -- USDA is preparing a major overhaul of how it collects and reports agricultural data.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday the department will release a National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) modernization plan later this summer focused on improving transparency, streamlining reporting systems and restoring confidence in USDA data.
The review follows concerns over declining survey response rates and recent revisions to key USDA reports.
Rollins said survey response rates to reports like Crop Production, Acreage and Grain Stocks were 80% to 85% in 1992, declined to 50% to 55% in 2016 and are now averaging about 30%.
The new report will review NASS modernization efforts, both past and present, while identifying shortcomings in recent reports and outlining steps USDA can take to improve its statistical programs.
"We're going to be reporting on how our data projections stood up against the actual numbers for the just completed crop year, and we'll identify any discrepancies that occurred, and whether or not those discrepancies were because of systemic issues that need to be rectified in future years' data collection," said Deputy USDA Secretary Vaden.
It's happening during reorganization efforts that are moving select Washington-based employees to St. Louis and other regional offices.
The plan, which anticipates action when announced, will also examine how USDA can streamline its current reporting infrastructure, including the use of roughly 2,000 contractors, 500 platforms used to produce reports and employee survey collectors.
"We are now turning our attention in full to NASS and to these reports to make sure that the the data is correct, it is appropriate," Secretary Rollins said Wednesday. "We are putting out information that is transparent and that we're here at USDA to support our farmers first and foremost."
She announced the initiative during a roundtable meeting with the National Corn Growers Association.
Jed Bowers, NCGA president and corn farmer from Ohio, called it "such a relief." He said it's important to have this partnership "so we can bring reliable information both directions."
Another Ohio corn farmer, John Settlemyre, told DTN the surveys he receives are 6-10 pages long and have questions not relevant to his operation.
"To see the focus and the interest to improve the efficiency ... it just makes sense," he said.
Photo credit by National Corn Growers Association
Rollins also appointed Kip Tom, former ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, as a special adviser and government employee to oversee the review. Additionally, Sam Berry was named chief information officer in USDA's Office of the Chief Information Officer. Berry previously worked with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sunset on July 4.
REVIEWING USDA REPORTS
USDA has faced criticism over several WASDE reports, particularly after repeated upward revisions to 2025 corn planted acreage. USDA initially projected 94 million acres of corn planted in March before eventually increasing the estimate to 98.8 million acres in January.
The revisions frustrated farmers and analysts, who questioned the magnitude of the changes and the reliability of USDA's estimates.
The Office of the Chief Economist is reviewing USDA's WASDE reports and preparing a year-in-review assessment examining where the agency performed well, where improvements are needed, and how USDA can move forward with greater transparency.
"The Office of Chief Economist is taking a look at all of the WASDEs and is putting together kind of a year in review and looking at kind of what we did good and what we were right on, where we could have been better to move forward, and kind of just be public and very transparent about that process," a senior USDA official told reporters.
The modernization effort is not unexpected. Rollins announced in February at the Agricultural Outlook Forum that USDA would issue a Request for Information (RFI) examining the department's statistical data collection, analysis, and research.
Rollins also suggested today that USDA could consolidate some reports. "Some deep diving needs to be done on that as well. Do we really need all hundreds of the reports to date?" she said.
SURVEY RESPONSE RATES TRIAL
USDA attempted to improve response rates this spring by increasing outreach efforts. Vaden reported its success.
While the participation rate remained the same, USDA surveyed more farmers and received more individual responses. "That definitely helped ensure that the report that was issued earlier this month was based on many more data points," he said.
Rollins said she wants to be the best in agriculture data. "Historically the data has been considered the gold standard for market reporting. But as we know, the survey responses have continued to go down."
WHEN WILL CHANGES TAKE EFFECT?
Rollins explained modernization efforts will occur within USDA's current budget but will receive greater priority as NASS undergoes organizational changes.
"We're spending a lot of money for the modernization, which ultimately will save a lot of money."
Deputy Secretary Vaden said USDA is exploring whether new technology, including satellite data, could improve or replace some traditional reporting methods.
He cited USDA research with Colorado State University on satellite data that could replace crop reporting data collectors.
"What we're doing is ensuring that the people that we have are located where they need to be, which is primarily in the field, and then combine that with modern technology where we are until we have begun this effort," he said.
Vaden does not believe the agency needs thousands of additional employees. Instead, the department needs access to and the ability to analyze thousands more terabytes of data to ensure USDA reporting remains accurate.
Sam Berry, USDA's chief information officer, said large technology projects often fail when they become dependent on expanding teams rather than improving systems.
Berry said agricultural data is a critical resource that must be protected. "This (farm) data is a very critical national security asset that we need to protect," he said.
Within five months, the Office of the Chief Information Officer developed a digital acreage reporting platform that was demonstrated to the House Agriculture Committee after USDA spent nearly a decade attempting to develop the system during the first Trump administration.
The agency also announced USDA's Agriculture Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) reporting system will be transitioned to a digital platform.
"I do think that this is the time that we can fix this for good," Rollins said.
Jake Zajkowski can be reached at Jake.zajkowski@dtn.com
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