News

USDA opens Request for Information as it looks to strengthen ag statistics and data reliability

The USDA is looking to enhance the reliability of the data it collects. 

Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce says during meetings with farmers at the recent Commodity Classic they expressed concern about the accuracy of USDA reports. “And we’ve mentioned several times while we’ve been here, a technology modernization as it relates to acreage reporting and maybe production reporting for RMA and how those advancements and how that may be more accurate acreage reporting, more timely,” he says. 

He tells Brownfield the department currently relies heavily on producer information. “Farmers aren’t as good as they probably should be in filling those surveys out,” he says. “So, my encouragement would be to, when you see that survey from National Agriculture Statistics Service, open the envelope, fill it out, send it back. That just helps inform the reports that they do.”

Fordyce says the goal is for the USDA to release timely and accurate information that is useful for the ag sector. “I think they’re doing it the best that they can given the data they have access to and the timing of the data they have access to,” he says. “Some of that can be difficult because when those reports come out, maybe all the data is not available yet.”

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins recently announced a Request for Information on opportunities, challenges, and emerging areas in statistical data, analysis, and research for its entities.  The USDA says it will use the information to consider future program direction, new initiatives, and potential funding opportunities.

Comments can be submitted before April 9, 2026 on the Federal Register’s website.

AUDIO: Interview with USDA Undersecretary Richard Fordyce from Commodity Classic