The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is launching a pilot project that relies more heavily on technology as part of an effort to improve its closely watched US crop acreage and yield estimates, Reuters reported, citing Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday, in the face of mounting criticism over the reliability of government data.
Rollins discussed USDA's data modernization plan at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, following a month-long series of listening sessions with farmers and agricultural groups that have exposed frustrations with the Trump administration as the farm economy struggles.
"We will conduct a pilot to evaluate the use of improved satellite imagery, working with NASA and other federal government agencies across the country to figure out how we can make this reporting more accurate," Rollins said during the show.
Farmers have criticized the deep staff cuts at the USDA, saying it has affected data collection and accuracy. They have raised questions in particular about the National Agricultural Statistics Service, whose closely watched reports can move commodity markets, affect the prices crop farmers get for their harvests and influence federal farm programs.
After the USDA released its January final estimates, already low grain prices sank more than 5%, at a time when growers were struggling to make money.
The project will use geospatial tools and crop models alongside farmer polls to estimate crop acreage and yields. The department also said it would explore the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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