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Undersecretary Fordyce says USDA modernization efforts will boost efficiency and accuracy

USDA Undersecretary Richard Fordyce says the department’s One Farmer, One File program will be transformative for producers. “They’re going to have a value from a time savings, from increased accuracy,” he says. “More things that you can do with an acreage report, you know, as a producer.” 

He says farmers will eventually have the option to share precision ag data, and that should improve accuracy for acreage reporting.  

But, Fordyce tells Brownfield, the changes haven’t come without questions from farmers.  “The question from farmers is: I’m sharing my data with my seed corn supplier, sharing my data with my agronomist, sharing my data with my ag retailer,” he says. “I know they’re going to protect it. If I share it with you, can I be assured that it’s just going to inform my acreage report and nobody else can see it?” 

He says work is being done to ensure that once farmers grant permission, only needed information is shared.  “We’re working right now with the equipment manufacturers to make sure that the data that we bring in to inform an acreage report will just have the data that we need to inform an acreage report,” he says. “We’re not going to know what kind of seed corn you plant. We’re not going to know how much fertilizer you put on per acre. We’re not going to know any of that.” 

Fordyce says the modernization efforts will also help make offices more efficient.