WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD-TV) — USDA is taking steps to prevent future reporting errors after a processing mistake affected September corn estimates.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported last month that a processing error affected plant counts, yields and production estimates for corn in Kansas and Nebraska.
Faith Parum with the Farm Bureau says USDA is working to improve the reliability of its reports.
“USDA has looked back at the September and October reports to make sure there are no more changes in any parts of the report, and they have continued to make sure that they are updating their models to make sure that these errors don’t happen in the future. We’re very lucky and blessed in the United States to have an agricultural statistics service. Obviously, farmers make production, financing, and marketing decisions based on all of these expectations in the report. So, any efforts to make those more reliable, more accurate, are going to be really great for farmers and ranchers.”
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) called the mistake unacceptable, arguing that recent USDA reports have cost corn farmers billions of dollars in market value as prices continue to fall. The group is calling for immediate changes to prevent future errors.
NASS says it will introduce additional checks before publishing reports to verify the accuracy of its data.
