Ag News

NASS reinstates select data collection programs and reports

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is reinstating the July Cattle report and County Estimates for Crops and Livestock. The county estimate reinstatement is effective for row crops: corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans; and for these small grains: barley, oats, wheat.

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall praised the decision to reinstate the July Cattle report and the County Estimates report.

“Both the July Cattle Report and County Estimates reports are crucial tools for farmers and ranchers to understand their markets and make business decisions. We’re grateful USDA made the correct call to restore these reports, after input from AFBF and many other agricultural organizations.

Following are scheduled release dates for NASS reports:

County Estimates – corn, sorghum, soybeans: May 6

County Estimates – cotton: May 12

County Estimates – cattle: May 13

County Estimates – rice, peanuts: May 23

July Cattle: July 25

No announcement has been made regarding the status of the July Cotton Objective Yield Survey. 

“We encourage NASS to consider resuming the Cotton Objective Yield Survey as well,” Duvall said. “Cotton farmers have faced several years of challenges with prices well below break-even. While the County Estimates will certainly provide some additional useful information, there will be a gap during the pivotal summer and fall growing months.”

The full calendar of NASS reports is available at nass.usda.gov/Publications.

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