LUBBOCK, Texas (RFD News) — USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is expanding its Ag Insights platform as the agency shifts more agricultural reports toward interactive online delivery. Administrator Joe Parsons says the effort is designed to help farmers find specific information faster.
Ag Insights allows users to filter report data, view charts, and narrow results without working through static files. Parsons says the platform is especially useful for producers accessing USDA information from a phone while working in a tractor, pickup or combine.
The agency plans to place most reports into the Ag Insights format going forward. That marks a broader move away from relying primarily on static PDF reports and toward data that can be searched online.
NASS produces more than 450 reports in a typical year covering crops, livestock, grain stocks, farm finances, conservation practices, farm-gate prices and the Census of Agriculture.
Parsons says Ag Insights will continue evolving as NASS receives feedback from producers and agribusiness users. The agency is also developing additional tools to make official agricultural statistics easier to access and use.
