October 13 - 14, 2021

12:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
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CONTENTS

f Contents

Agenda ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Breakout Session Descriptions ................................................................................................................... 5

Meeting Links............................................................................................................................................. 7

Agricultural Marketing Service .................................................................................................................. 8

Economic Research Service...................................................................................................................... 13

Foreign Agricultural Service..................................................................................................................... 21

World Agricultural Outlook Board........................................................................................................... 27

U.S. Census Bureau .................................................................................................................................. 30

National Agricultural Statistics Service.................................................................................................... 36
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2021 USDA Data Users’ Virtual Meeting 

October 13 - 14 

 

Live Webinar – All times are Eastern 

AGENDA

DAY 1 — OCTOBER 13

12:00 p.m. ........................................Welcome and Overview...................................................Joe Parsons

National Agricultural Statistics Service

12:10 p.m. ..............................................Agency Reviews............................................................................

Mike Lynch, Agricultural Marketing Service

Spiro Stefanou, Economic Research Service

Patrick Packnett, Foreign Agricultural Service

Mike Walter, Farm Service Agency

Mark Jekanowski, World Agricultural Outlook Board

Joseph DeCampo, U.S. Census Bureau

Dan Kerestes, National Agricultural Statistics Service

12:50 p.m. ............................................................................................................................................Break

1:00 p.m. .......................................................................................................................Breakout Session #1

1:55 p.m. ..............................................................................................................................................Break

2:05 p.m. .......................................................................................................................Breakout Session #2

3:00 p.m. ...................................................................................................................................... Day 1 End

DAY 1 BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Day 1 – October 13

All times Eastern Session A Session B

1:00pm

AgTransport Platform

Agricultural Marketing Service

Foreign Production, Trade, and Import/Export Data 

World Agricultural Outlook Board, Foreign 

Agricultural Service, and U.S. Census Bureau

1:55pm 10 Minute Break

2:05pm

Milk Production Program

National Agricultural Statistics 

Service

Showcasing ERS Data and New Initiatives

Economic Research Service
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DAY 2 — OCTOBER 14

12:00 p.m. ....................................................... Open Forum - Questions and comments from participants

1:20 p.m. ..............................................................................................................................................Break

1:30 p.m. .......................................................................................................................Breakout Session #3

2:10 p.m. ..............................................................................................................................................Break

2:20 p.m. .......................................................................................................................Breakout Session #3

3:00 p.m. ...................................................................................................................................... Day 2 End

DAY 2 BREAKOUT SESSION

Day 2 – October 14

All times Eastern Session A Session B

1:30 pm

Data and Programs Assisting Our Nation’s 

Producers During the 2021 Western Drought

World Agricultural Outlook Board

Market News

Agricultural Marketing Service

2:10 pm 10 Minute Break

2:20 pm

NASS Modernization

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Building Country Capacity with the Global 

Agricultural & Disaster Assessment System

Foreign Agricultural Service
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BREAKOUT SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

DAY 1 BREAKOUT SESSIONS – OCTOBER 13, 2021

Breakout #1 – 1:00 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. ET 

Session A

AgTransport Platform – Agricultural Marketing Service

The AMS AgTransport platform provides up-to-date access to USDA transportation data (rail, truck, 

barge, ocean vessel, and containers) that can help inform timely marketing decisions about moving 

agricultural products across the country and around the world. Join us as we demonstrate how usable, 

shareable, accessible, and discoverable agricultural transportation datasets are. In this session, we will 

explore numerous dashboards and datasets, customized visualizations, open formatting, and easily 

accessible API’s to help quickly put USDA’s data to work for you.

Session B

Foreign Production, Trade, and Import/Export Data – Foreign Agricultural Service, World 

Agricultural Outlook Board, and U.S. Census Bureau

These agencies collect, report, and forecast U.S. goods trade, Export Sales data, and U.S. and Foreign, 

production supply and demand for major commodities. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask 

questions and understand the respective agencies’ programs, procedures, and systems to access the data 

efficiently.

Breakout #2 – 2:05 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET 

Session A

Milk Production Program – National Agricultural Statistics Service

This session will provide the details of the entire process used by NASS in determining milk production 

estimates. This will include detailed descriptions of procedures used from sampling through estimation, 

along with information regarding how NASS incorporates administrative data. 

Session B

Showcasing ERS Data and New Initiatives – Economic Research Service

This session will highlight two sets of data products, the Meat Price Spreads Data and Commodity Costs 

and Returns Reports, as well as a new initiative linking food acquisition and nutrition data. 
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DAY 2 BREAKOUT SESSIONS – OCTOBER 14, 2021

Breakout #3 – 1:30 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. ET 

Session A

Data and Programs Assisting Our Nation’s Producers During the 2021 Western Drought – World 

Agricultural Outlook Board

Large portions of the West have been experiencing significant periods of drought off and on for more than 

two decades, leading it to be referred to as a “Mega Drought”. The longevity of the current drought, 

combined with a warmer climate and increased competition for limited water resources, has not only 

caused direct losses to producers but also raises questions about the future of agriculture in many 

communities in its present form. Today’s breakout session will provide an overview of the still-evolving 

drought, the prospects for improvement, and why this event stands out amongst others for its severity. The 

information used in these determinations will be introduced, including those identifying the changing 

conditions noted in recent decades, along with other information producers may find useful as they prepare 

for future droughts. 

Session B

Market News – Agricultural Marketing Service

Market News provides unbiased, timely price and volume information to facilitate the marketing and 

distribution of farm commodities and products. Please plan to join us for this breakout session to learn 

about new Market News initiatives and get the latest updates on the My Market News platform. Most 

importantly, we want to hear from you! AMS always welcomes your feedback and questions about the 

AMS Market News program, data, and reports.

Breakout #4 – 2:20 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET 

Session A

NASS Modernization – National Agricultural Statistics Service

NASS has embarked on an effort to modernize accessing NASS data and reports faster, friendlier, and 

easier. Join us at this session to learn about the latest updates. 

Session B

Building Country Capacity with the Global Agricultural & Disaster Assessment System – Foreign 

Agricultural Service

The Global Agricultural & Disaster Assessment System (GADAS) is an interactive web-based geospatial 

platform by the Foreign Agricultural Service. This online Geographic Information System (GIS) captures 

and shares near real-time weather and natural disaster data, combined with spatially explicit global 

agricultural information, enabling analysts and other private and public stakeholders to conduct data 

mining, perform comparative analysis, and create publication-ready maps, charts, or tables. GADAS 

provides authoritative satellite-derived Earth observation data to support collaboration in regional and 

field-based assessments of agricultural conditions.
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MEETING LINKS

DAY 1 SESSION LINKS

Main Session – October 13 & 14 - 12:00 pm ET

Register: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_QffPSZnwRYukyadCGTmTWw

Breakout 1 - 1:00 pm ET

Session A – AgTransport Platform

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1603283641?pwd=cEJacUg1aEUrRkp2TjZiZVNNU3RoZz09

Session B – Foreign Production, Trade, and Import/Export Data

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1600413506?pwd=RjArUkdCQTQzK3BCeTFWWFc2cDA2Zz09

Breakout 2 - 2:05 pm ET

Session A – NASS Milk Production Program

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1612040604?pwd=ZHRpRFNlVGFjQldJblZMUnU2aGYxUT09

Session B – Showcasing ERS Data and New Initiatives

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1601121440?pwd=c2FMMVo2VWFzRXYrL1JnYUJzdDNtQT09

DAY 2 SESSION LINKS

Breakout 3 - 1:30 pm ET

Session A – Data and Programs Assisting Our Nation’s Producers During the 2021 Western Drought

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1608817446?pwd=SnVJZlpCR0hrZTRQSXBSOGdrdmhlUT09

Session B – Market News Reports

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1607416034?pwd=VWRJZ1F0WmltSjJTRjZ5UkR0NWZXUT09

Breakout 4 - 2:20 pm ET

Session A – NASS Modernization

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1613399565?pwd=NmJsV25jM3FZRHMxcmJmSUFLdmlZUT09

Session B – Building Country Capacity with the Global Agricultural & Disaster Assessment System

Join: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1605454915?pwd=RkY0akdoZWxkdnJ0dEhvNlBvcnM4dz09

MEETING MATERIALS

Video Recordings, Slides, and Q&A Transcripts will be available at:

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Education_and_Outreach/Meeting/index.php
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AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE

The mission of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

is to facilitate the competitive and efficient marketing of agricultural products.

USDA DATA USERS FALL MEETING 2021

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administers programs that create domestic and international 

marketing opportunities for U.S. producers of food, fiber, and specialty crops. AMS also provides the 

agriculture industry with valuable services to ensure the quality and availability of wholesome food for 

consumers across the country.

Nearly 4,000 AMS professionals work every day to support the country’s diverse agricultural operations, 

which range from individual farmers to international businesses and employ 1 in 12 people. AMS services 

and its millions of dollars in annual grant investments also create opportunities by supporting economic 

development in small towns and rural communities that stand as the backbone of American values.

Much of the agency’s support for agriculture is provided through commodity-specific efforts, such as its 

Dairy; Specialty Crops; Livestock and Poultry; and Cotton and Tobacco Programs. AMS also oversees 

the National Organic Program; Science and Technology Program; and the Transportation and Marketing 

Program. AMS also provides regulatory oversight for over 20 research and promotion programs and 

enforces other Federal regulations such as the Packers and Stockyards Act, the Perishable Agricultural 

Commodities Act (PACA) and the Seed Act.

CURRENT ISSUES OF INTEREST

My Market News 

The Market Analysis & Reporting Services (MARS) and its public facing website, My Market News and 

related API continue to expand its offerings to data users in 2021. 

Market information for feedstuffs, retail, national feeder cattle summary, bioenergy, international markets, 

poultry and byproducts and the Specialty Crops commodities of truck rates, national trends, terminal

market, shipping point and movement will transition to My Market News over the next several months. It 

is anticipated that all currently available AMS Market News data sets will be moved to the new system 

within the next year. 

Other updates that have been implemented on the site over the past year include the functionality that 

allows users to identify corrected data sets both by report and through the My Market News API and 
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Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) API. Another update coming later this year will allow users to 

automatically download specific archived report files through a web-based API.

The Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News (LPGMN) program will introduce a Market News Mobile 

App in 2021 that will run on both Android and IOS and offer the following features:

• Search reports by Commodity, Offices, Market Types and Report Names

• Filter Search Results by Report Name or Slug, Report Year, Report Start and Report End dates

• Favorite a Report

• The ability to share a report with others

• Subscribe to the Report to get notified when new report is available

• Find Previous Years’ Reports

• Reports for offices nearest to user’s current location.

Federal-State Cooperation

AMS Market News has Federal-State Cooperative Agreements with 30 states for commodity market 

reporting activities. These cooperative working relationships enable resources at the Federal and State 

levels to be leveraged to expand the breadth, depth, and dissemination of market reporting to the benefit 

of the industry and information users. State reporters cover livestock auction and grain elevator markets, 

and other local reporting activities, such as farmers markets, that would otherwise be costly and more 

difficult to cover using Federal resources alone. 

Organic Market Reporting

AMS Market News currently reports over 240 organic commodities, and tracks and reports organic 

markets at three main levels – shipping point or point of entry (for imports), wholesale, and retail. 

Reporting of organic commodities at shipping point usually includes tracking the volume of movement,

which consists of domestic shipments or crossings from Mexico/imports from other countries. Market 

News provides some comprehensive reports for the organic sector, such as the daily National Specialty 

Crops Organic Summary. AMS has a webpage showcasing Market News organic reports including a 

Weekly Retail Organic Price Comparison Report that shows the price differences between organic and 

conventional products to assist stakeholders in analysis of commodity sales and consumers’ willingness 

to pay for organic products. 

Market Information Organization of the Americas/International Collaboration

AMS Market News serves as the chair of the Market Information Organization of the Americas (MIOA), 

a cooperation network of institutions from 33 countries that operate like Market News. These institutions 

track and report major markets within their nations to ensure the availability of reliable information for 

their agro-industrial complex, relevant ministries, and government agencies. MIOA works to harmonize 

efforts, identify, and share best practices, and support trade and economic development through the 

availability of critical market data. MIOA supports the concept that timely and unbiased market 

information helps provide market transparency – a basic public good. MIOA and AMS Market News have 

partnered to create the MIOA Toolbox, a five-part series of modules available in English, Spanish, and 

Portuguese. This series has provided hundreds of leading market information specialists, data analysts,

and various strategic partners from the 33 member countries with key information on the strategies, new 

tools, and good practices to improve market reporting across the Americas. The five modules are titled:
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• Components of a Successful MIS

• Value of and Strategies for Accurate Market Information 

• Market Reporter: Profile and Good Practices for Success

• Good Practices for MIS in Preparation for Emergencies

• Outreach, Education and Promotion for MIS

AMS Market News, along with the other data agencies of USDA, is partnering with the Foreign 

Agricultural Service (FAS) to deliver capacity building programs in the Dominican Republic and the State 

of Maharashtra, India. AMS is drawing upon the MIOA Toolbox for these training programs for market 

information specialists. Information specialists from other countries have sat in on these advanced training 

programs, greatly increasing the reach and impact of these programs.

Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Reporting

Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News (LPGMN) continues to focus much of its efforts on improving

our customers’ experience by providing greater access to LPGMN data through more modern tools, 

including transitioning market data and reports to My Market News. LPGMN is also focused on conducting 

industry outreach to help stakeholders understand the opportunities and challenges presented as part of 

the reauthorization process of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Act of 1999 which, at the time 

of publication of this document, was extended by Congress through December 3, 2021, as part of the 2022 

Continuing Appropriations Act. 

Data users are encouraged to access the My Market News API, the LMR API, and the legacy LMR Web 

Service to consume LPGMN data more effectively, efficiently, and on demand. Data users can also access 

LMR report data through the XML Format link at the bottom of each PDF report, and through the LMR 

API. The LMR API offers access to all LMR, Dairy Mandatory, and Federal Milk Marking Order reports

and data. 

Other recent LPGMN activities include: 

• On June 8-10, 2021, the AMS Cattle and Carcass Training Center (CCTC) conducted a series of 

public webinars providing educational information about our LMR cattle and boxed beef reporting.

• On August 9, 2021, LPGMN issued the new Daily Cattle Formula Base report which enables

stakeholders to see the correlation between the negotiated trade and reported formula base prices.

• On August 10, 2021, LPGMN issued the new Weekly Cattle Net Price Distribution report which 

shows at what levels (price and volume) trade occurred across the weekly weighted average price 

for each purchase type – negotiated, negotiated grid, formula and forward contract. 

Cotton Market News Reporting

During the 2021-2022 cotton crop year, Cotton Market News will be monitoring the quality of the crop 

and adding special reports to the to the Weekly Cotton Market Review as quality issues are identified. 

Cotton Quality Data files will be available in My Market News. The weekly cotton quality data file 

contains classification information for all bales classed in a given week. The file contains data for Upland 

and Pima cotton. The identification includes the Cotton Program's Classing Office number or the twodigit State Code in which the bale was ginned, depending on the file accessed. The data does not contain 

individual bale identification (gin and bale number). This data can be used to produce statistical reports 

for various combinations of cotton quality information. Cotton Price Excel and CSV files are available in 

My Market News. Historical files continue to be loaded and files will be available going back to at least 
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the 2014-2015 marketing year. Additional Cotton Price datasets are available by request. E-mail 

CottonMN@usda.gov or Barbara.Meredith@usda.gov if you are interested in Cotton Price datasets.

Dairy Market News Reporting

Dairy Market News (DMN) continues to enhance My Market News, improving access to information and 

data for the dairy industry. CME Group daily pricing information for butter, cheese, nonfat dry milk, and 

dry whey is now available in My Market News, along with weekly, monthly, and yearly averages. 

Enhancements to APIs at the My Market News landing pages are available, with updates made regularly 

to meet customer needs. API documentation is displayed on the homepage of each Dairy Market News 

report in the My Market News system. 

Reports of mandatory dairy product survey prices and Federal order statistics are published by the Dairy 

Market Information Branch (MIB) on the My Market News website, the AMS website, and Cornell’s 

USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System (ESMIS). The underlying data for these 

reports are available in Datamart and the associated API, both part of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting 

system. Sample API workbooks are also available on the My Market News website.

Specialty Crops Market News Reporting

Specialty Crops Market News (SCMN) added new packages, origins, and varieties to its market reports 

as they emerged in the marketplace, or in response to industry requests to report new products or enhance 

existing products. The National Retail Report – Specialty Crops has grown to be one of the mostly closed 

tracked reports published by Market News. SCMN tracks approximately 410 supermarket chains, with 

over 30,300 individual outlets. Overall, SCMN tracks over 785 unique specialty crop commodities at three 

market levels (retail, wholesale, and shipping point), plus the movement, which consists of domestic 

shipments, crossings from Mexico, and import volumes. To better meet specialized information needs, 

the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement Seasonal Perishable Products Weekly Update, was created to 

highlight the seasonal market situation on several of the most widely imported specialty crops 

commodities, with additional commentary and market price and volume data visualizations.

SCMN gained access to the Automated Commercial Environment/International Trade Data System 

(ACE), implemented through the joint efforts of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 

Homeland Security, and the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). SCMN transitioned to using the ACE 

system as the primary source of import data, starting with the northern border on January 2, 2020. On 

January 3, 2021, SCMN continued the transition to ACE with the addition of the southern border, 

excluding Mexico Crossings through Nogales, Arizona. The ACE data using the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule (HTS) codes is timelier, allowing SCMN to have daily reports for hundreds of commodities, and 

it reflects the more actual volumes, as it covers all ports and points of entry. 

SCMN worked closely with industry leaders to request specific HTS from the International Trade 

Commission to increase the specificity of the ACE data and provide transparency for some minor 

commodities that have significant economic value in the marketplace. The most recent successful request, 

effective July 1, 2021, was for organic raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries, plus cilantro and 

tomatillos. The latest request from SCMN, to be effective January 1, 2022, includes cut flowers and 

ornamental greens, with the minor fruit and vegetable items held in abeyance for now.
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Agricultural Transportation Open Data Visualization Platform – AgTransport

The AgTransport platform offers farmers, commodity analysts, elevator operators, shippers, and other 

stakeholders access to USDA data that can help them make timely market decisions about moving 

agricultural products across the country and around the world. This free, open data platform contains 

numerous datasets and dashboards about the four modes—rail, truck, barge, and ocean vessel—used to 

transport agricultural products.

AgTransport facilitates easy analytics. Users can gain personalized insight through interactive charts, and 

they can generate and save their own unique visualizations and data views that will be updated 

automatically over time. If they wish, users also can share their visualizations with others in the tool’s 

open data community. AgTransport makes data available in many different, open formats and 

automatically generates and maintains an Application Programming Interface (API) for each dataset.

There have been many new features added to the platform with the latest expansion in July. One feature 

helps users visualize data about international transport costs to better understand international trade 

competitiveness. New interactive datasets have been added related to highway infrastructure from the 

report, The Importance of Highways to U.S. Agriculture, released in December 2020. There is also an 

online version of the 2021 Compendium of Agricultural Transportation Research, which offers insight on 

all major transport modes by highlighting the main findings and methods from recent research between 

2015 and 2021.

Other features on the platform include: 

• Grain Transportation Cost Indicators and Global Competitiveness Dashboard with data on Brazil, 

Mexico, and Japan

• Interactive Rail Dashboard with expanded Data, Maps, and Analysis, featuring 14 years of Surface 

Transportation Board Public Waybill data in an easy-to-use, accessible format

• Agricultural Rail Service Metrics Dashboard

• Barge Dashboard with additional rivers and locks added to the waterway Lock Performance 

Management Data

• Ocean Port Profiles Dashboard

• Bulk and Container Ocean Fleet Data

• Grain Trucking Indicators

• Refrigerated Truck Dashboard with Rates, Volumes, and Availability

• Dashboard for selected Grain Price and Basis Data

• Digitized Modal Share Analysis for Transportation of U.S. Grains

• Biofuels Dashboard, including Ethanol, Biodiesel, and DDGs
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ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE
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FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE

Update on Information and Data Products Available from

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service

October 2021

Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) 

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) provides timely reports on foreign markets through the 

Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) database. The GAIN database houses reports from 

98 offices covering 177 countries that include timely intelligence and analysis on global agriculture, 

agricultural markets, and foreign government policies affecting agricultural trade. In 2020, approximately 

3,100 GAIN reports were submitted and published for web-based retrieval. This was an increase of 

14.8% over the prior year and was largely attributed to reporting on the impacts of COVID-19 on the 

agricultural sector. 

Commodity reporting requirements are reviewed annually to ensure that reporting aligns with changes

and developments in global agricultural production and trade. Reporting on climate change and reports on 

the Farm to Fork Strategy are examples of new issues covered. 

GAIN reports were downloaded through the GAIN system 2.59 million times throughout this calendar 

year alone. Users can access GAIN reports dating back to 1996 from the GAIN homepage: 

https://gain.fas.usda.gov/#/.

For questions about the GAIN search engine please contact 1-GAINAppSupport@fas.usda.gov. 

To receive GAIN reports via email, register at:

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFAS/subscriber/new

FAS – U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook

The 2020 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook was released on April 5th, 2021. The yearbook provides a 

statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world and the United States’ primary 

trading partners. The 2020 Yearbook can be found at https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/2020-agriculturalexport-yearbook. 

All U.S. export data found within the Yearbook are collected and published by the U.S. Census Bureau of 

the U.S. Department of Commerce. Foreign country export data are sourced from the reporting countries’

national statistical agencies as reported through Trade Data Monitor (TDM). The 2020 U.S. Agricultural 

Export Yearbook consists of two sections: 1) commodity exports, and 2) country of destination exports. 

The Yearbook utilized FAS product groups as defined in FAS’ Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS) 

using the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) at the ten-digit level and aggregated into classifications that 

include the primary commodity and its derivatives. FAS has titled these product groups as 

“BICO (HS-10).” BICO is an FAS designation that stands for Bulk, Intermediate & Consumer Oriented 

goods. 

The 13 Yearbook product groups or commodity aggregations are based on the United States’ largest export 

categories. The country Yearbook pages include the United States’ top fifteen export destinations. Each 

commodity and country page includes a list of drivers that influenced exports, market conditions affecting 

supply and demand, and policy and market access issues that impact the United States’ ability to export.
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Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS)

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS) includes U.S. 

agricultural, fishery, and forestry trade statistics dating from the inception of the Harmonized coding 

system in 1989 to present. The database is continuously updated. U.S. trade data are updated monthly 

according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s reporting system. Users can access the GATS homepage at 

https://apps.fas.usda.gov/gats/default.aspx.

Beginning with the release of the January 2021 monthly agricultural trade data on March 5, 2021, USDA 

adopted the World Trade Organization (WTO) definition of agriculture, which includes ethanol, distilled 

spirits, and manufactured tobacco products, three product groups which were not included in the previous 

USDA definition. Additionally, certain enzymes, lecithin and industrial acids, rubber and other 

miscellaneous fibers, and rennet were among some of the products removed from the definition of 

agriculture. The change harmonizes U.S. trade reporting practices with those of the international 

community and ensures that USDA numbers are aligned with those of the Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative, which already uses the WTO agricultural definition when negotiating WTO binding trade 

agreements. USDA made this change in coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Within 

GATS, the product groups (i.e., BICO, FAS, FATUS, and Processed Foods) have been updated to 

incorporate code changes. This includes concordance of historic codes under the revised aggregates to 

ensure consistent time-series data. 

Users can find additional information at https://www.fas.usda.gov/updated-agricultural-productsdefinition-trade-reporting. 

For questions, please contact Jason Carver (Jason.Carver@usda.gov) or Saquib Ahsan 

(Saquib.Ahsan@usda.gov). 

Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD) Online

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) PSD Online contains data on production, supply, and 

distribution of agricultural commodities for the U.S. and key producing and consuming countries. Users 

can access PSD online at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/app/index.html#/app/home.

EU and UK Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD) Datasets and “Brexit”:

Effective January 1, 2021, the separation of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) 

was complete, including trade between both entities. Starting in May 2021 with the release of 2021/22 

data, field crops PSDs reflect EU27 (shown in the PSD system as “European Union”) and UK separately. 

Cotton PSDs have been and will continue to be maintained on an individual country-level basis, including 

the UK.

FAS will continue using the term “European Union” to mean the countries involved in the previous 

customs union, i.e., EU27+UK, from January 2021 through October 2021 for livestock and poultry PSDs 

and through December 2021 for dairy PSDs. Starting in October 2021 with the release of the 2022 data, 

livestock and poultry PSDs will reflect EU27 and UK separately. Starting in December 2021 with the 

release of the 2022 data, dairy PSDs will reflect EU27 and UK separately.

Horticultural Products (citrus, coffee, deciduous fruit, stone fruit, tree nuts): FAS will continue using the 

term “European Union” to mean the countries involved in the previous customs union, i.e., EU27+UK, 

for PSD data through 2020/21. Beginning with 2021/22, data will represent the European Union (not 

including the United Kingdom) and will exclude all intra-trade. Data sets remaining to be released for 

2021/22 are fresh peaches and cherries (September); almonds and walnuts (October); apples, grapes, and 
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pears (December); grapefruit, lemons/limes, oranges, orange juice, and tangerines/mandarins (January 

2022); and pistachios (February 2022).

Sugar: FAS will continue using the term “European Union” to mean the countries involved in the previous 

customs union, i.e., EU27+UK, for PSD data through 2020/21. Beginning with 2021/22, data represents 

the European Union (not including the United Kingdom) and excludes all intra-trade.

Beginning with the release of 2021/22 (or calendar year 2022) data for each commodity group (except 

cotton), historical data for both EU27 and the UK will be provided for 5 years (2016/17 through 2020/21; 

or calendar years 2017 through 2021).

For questions, please contact us at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/app/index.html#/app/contact.

Export Sales Reporting 

Authorized under Section 602 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978, the Export Sales Reporting (ESR) 

Program requires exporters of reportable U.S. commodities to report each week all their export sales 

regardless of the quantity, to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). There are 40 commodities currently covered under the program to include wheat, 

wheat products, barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, rye, soybeans, soybean cake and meal, soybean oil, 

flaxseed, linseed oil, cotton, sunflower seed oil, cottonseed, cottonseed cake and meal, cottonseed oil, rice, 

cattle hides and skins, wet blues, beef, and pork. Users can access the ESR System at 

https://apps.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/esrd1.html.

FAS knows how important the ESR program is to the U.S. marketplace and takes its responsibility for 

administering this vital program very seriously. FAS has completed stage one upgrades of the Export 

Sales Reporting and Maintenance System (ESRMS). Exporters are being randomly selected to participate 

in a series of user acceptance testing opportunities over the next several months. Included in the stage one 

upgrade is an improved ESR Query system. Upon completion of user acceptance testing, the stage one 

upgrade should be available to all users of ESRMS data. FAS hopes to have the upgraded system available 

by the second quarter of FY 2022. In addition to being available online through the ESR webpage and the 

ESR Query System, weekly and daily reports are now available through email via GovDelivery to all users 

who sign up. To receive ESR daily reports via email, register at:

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFAS/subscriber/new

FAS is working to ensure all exporters of the commodities covered under the ESR program are registered 

in ESRMS. FAS has been working with the various commodity associations to identify new exporters and 

get them registered in ESRMS. In FY 2021, five new exporters have been registered. 

For additional information, contact the Export Sales Reporting team at esr@usda.gov.
24

FAS Data Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) 

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) data API portal provides users the ability to obtain 

programmatic access to publicly available agricultural commodity data from the Global Agricultural 

Trade System (GATS), Production, Supply & Distribution (PSD), and Export Sales Report (ESR) 

databases. 

The FAS Open Data Services can be found at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/opendataweb/home. 

For technical questions, please contact the FAS Web Admin Team at FASWebAdminTeam@usda.gov.

Agricultural Tariff Tracker

To help exporters obtain information about tariff reductions resulting from free trade agreements (FTAs), 

FAS launched the Agricultural Tariff Tracker in 2013. The Ag Tariff Tracker has tariff, tariff rate quota 

(TRQ), and safeguard information for the United States’ existing free trade agreements with 11 FTA 

partners. In 2019, terms of the U.S.– Japan Trade agreement were added to the Ag Tariff Tracker. 

This tool is available at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/agtarifftracker/Home/Search on the Trade Policy/Trade 

Agreements topic page of the FAS website: https://www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-agreements. 

Production Estimates

FAS maintains a website that is a dynamic global crop production portal with key information including 

World Agricultural Production (WAP) briefs, Commodity Intelligence Reports (CIR), geospatial 

applications, crop production maps, and crop calendars at a subnational level for the top-20 producing 

countries (Figure 1, https://www.ipad.fas.usda.gov).

The FAS website for global crop production also hosts an application called Crop Explorer that displays 

global rainfall, average temperature, maximum/minimum temperature, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, 

precipitation, SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) Drought Severity, NDVI (Normalized Difference 

Vegetation Index) vegetation conditions, snow cover, production maps, etc. for 12 different crops: cotton, 

corn, barley, millet, rice, sorghum, wheat, soybeans, sunflower, rapeseed, peanuts, and palm oil.

(https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/).

The Crop Explorer website was upgraded to monitor the latest crop conditions and seasonal rainfall 

received for specific crops grown within primary production states. The upgraded Crop Explorer monitors 

specific crops with related web apps called Corn Explorer, Soybean Explorer, Wheat Explorer, Cotton 

Explorer, etc. For example, the dashboard view for Corn Explorer shows corn production maps at 

sub-national (state) levels, cumulative rainfall, and NDVI crop conditions for all major corn producing 

countries and regions (Figure 2). 

Crop Explorer also monitors SPI Drought Severity in 5-day time steps to quickly identify the severity of 

droughts that may reduce crop yields during the growing season. For more information, please contact 

Curt Reynolds at curt.reynolds@usda.gov.
25

Figure 1. FAS home page for global crop production (September 2021)
26

Figure 2. Dashboard View of Corn Explorer (September 2021)

Global Agricultural and Disaster Assessment System (GADAS)

GADAS is a state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS) tool which integrates a vast array of 

highly detailed earth observation data streams, particularly targeted towards agricultural and disaster 

assessment analysis, into an easy-to-use, web-based environment. GADAS provides analysts with a wide 

variety of routine geospatial products (maps, charts, tables) they require for comprehensive situational 

investigations and recurring assessments. GADAS can be accessed directly at 

(https://geo.fas.usda.gov/GADAS/index.html) or through (https://www.ipad.fas.usda.gov).

GADAS will help USDA/FAS remain a global leader in the use of location-based technologies for 

agricultural monitoring and global food security intelligence. The system combines daily climate, satellite 

imagery, other geospatial data, and custom-built applications that quickly support the visual comparison 

of agricultural production-related data. GADAS is also designed to provide hourly updates of natural 

disasters (cyclone tracking, drought evolution, flooding impacts) as well as tools for rapid pre- and postdisaster agricultural assessments. Web-based GIS improves collaboration between teams in FAS working 

around the world. 

For questions, contact Robert Tetrault at robert.tetrault@usda.gov.

Figure 3. GADAS home page (September 2021)
27

United States Department of Agriculture

WORLD AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK BOARD

Questions about World Agricultural Outlook Board programs may be directed to Mark Jekanowski, Chairman, WAOB, 

Mail Stop 3812, South Building, USDA, Washington, D.C. 20250-3812; Mark.Jekanowski@usda.gov.

The World Agricultural Outlook Board’s (WAOB) primary mission is to provide reliable and objective 

economic forecasts for farmers and other participants in the food and fiber system. Functions include 

coordinating USDA forecasts of domestic and international agriculture; providing economic analysis 

related to global commodity markets; monitoring markets and agricultural weather; and disseminating 

relevant information.

Mark Jekanowski, WAOB Chairman, oversees the creation of the World Agricultural Supply and 

Demand Estimates (WASDE) report and chairs the Program Committee for USDA’s annual Agricultural 

Outlook Forum. Former positions include Deputy Director for the commodity outlook program at USDA’s 

Economic Research Service (ERS), Chief of the Crops Branch at ERS, and Senior Vice President at 

Informa Economics.

Interagency Commodity Estimates Committees (ICECs), chaired by WAOB senior economists, clear all 

USDA economic outlook reports to ensure consistency with official USDA estimates. The committees 

develop supply and demand estimates for the United States, over 100 individual countries, and global 

totals. Four USDA agencies are represented on the committees: Economic Research Service, Foreign 

Agricultural Service, Farm Service Agency, and the Agricultural Marketing Service.

Report Usage: Each year, WAOB issues 12 monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates 

(WASDE) reports; and publishes 52 weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin reports. On average, the WASDE 

is accessed by over 100,000 users worldwide each month. It’s one of USDA’s Principal Federal Economic 

Indicators and directly impacts commodity markets. 

Historic WASDE Data: Ten years of consolidated historical WASDE data in now available on the World 

Agricultural Outlook Board website (https://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity-markets/wasde/historicalwasde-report-data). The data is available in CSV format and includes every data point from each monthly 

WASDE between April 2010 and December 2020. Monthly data in the same CSV format for the months 

of 2021 are available at this same website and can be combined with the historic data file. Current monthly 

data files are updated within two business days of each WASDE release.

USDA Baseline: WAOB oversees the annual publication of the inter-agency USDA Agricultural 

Long-term Projections. The Long-term Projections report provides a conditional long run scenario about 

what would be expected to happen to the global agricultural economy under a continuation of current farm 

legislation and other specific assumptions. These reports are an important source of strategic planning 

information used in formulating the President’s budget and for decision-making by agricultural producers, 

agribusiness leaders, and policy officials.

Mark Brusberg, Chief Meteorologist, is a key contributor to, and main point of contact for, droughtrelated activities involving the Department and other Federal Partners, especially the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Mr. Brusberg serves on the Executive Council of the NOAAled National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and leads several projects related to the 
28

work done by NIDIS and other drought-oriented groups on behalf of the Department. He currently serves 

in a leadership capacity on the National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP), an intergovernmental 

task force offering leadership in the coordination and administration of activities designed to help mitigate 

the impacts of drought on vulnerable segments of the Nation’s economy. He is also a lead USDA 

representative to the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS).

Mr. Brusberg chairs USDA’s Combined Drought and Water Management Team, a venue for other 

agencies within the Department to share information and coordinate responses on projects and programs 

involving drought and water resources. As the Departmental lead on Drought, he facilitates partnerships 

between USDA and other groups, including the NDRP, NIDIS, ICAMS, and the National Drought 

Mitigation Center (NDMC). 

Agricultural Weather Monitoring and Assessments: WAOB’s staff of meteorologists generate timely 

weather and crop assessments in support of the monthly Crop Production and WASDE reports issued by 

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and WAOB, respectively. The meteorologists also 

provide weekly updates of crop weather to USDA Radio and often appear on local and national radio and 

television broadcasts. As recognized experts within the Department, they are sometimes tasked with 

attending Capitol Hill briefings and reviewing legislation and testimony, and occasionally contribute 

assessments and products to the USDA blog and other publications. Another key duty is to meet with 

foreign delegations and domestic groups regarding the process of using weather and climate products to 

produce operational agricultural assessments. WAOB meteorologists publish the Weekly Weather and 

Crop Bulletin, which provides the public with weekly assessments of global agricultural weather. Data 

and products are supplied to the WWCB by NASS and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, through a 

formal agreement establishing the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility. The WWCB averaged over 10,000 

downloads per week in FY21 from the USDA site, and additional downloads from the Cornell site. On a 

rotating basis, WAOB meteorologists prepared the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor and the monthly North 

American Drought Monitor. WAOB continues to engage our international counterparts whenever possible 

and currently lends support to activities led by the World Meteorological Organization and Global Water 

Partnership.

Agricultural Outlook Forum: The Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) is USDA’s largest and premiere 

annual gathering. The breadth and timeliness of the AOF programs have consistently drawn a diverse 

group of participants including producers, processors, policymakers, government officials, and nongovernmental organizations, to discuss current and emerging issues.

The 2021 Forum was held under the theme “Building on Innovation, a Pathway to Resilience.” Due to 

COVID-19, it was conducted on virtual platform and registration was free, which allowed thousands of 

stakeholders from across the country and around the world to participate. Nearly 4,500 people from 50 

States and over 100 countries attended Forum sessions. Forum sessions covered a range of topics relating 

to commodity market outlooks, supply chain resilience, agricultural technology and innovation, and U.S. 

trade, among others. All sessions are available for viewing for free until February 11, 2022 and can be 

accessed at Forum website (https://www.usda.gov/oce/ag-outlook-forum). 

AOF 2022 will continue as a virtual event and will be held February 24-25, 2022. We expect to open 

registration for AOF 2022 by November 1. 
29

WAOB Staff changes: 

The WAOB is pleased to welcome Kevin Wittenberger as the Deputy Chair of the Food Grains 

Committee, working alongside ICEC Food Grains Chair Mark Simone.

Kevin Wittenberger joined the Board as a food grains economist in August 2021. Prior to 

his current position, he served for ten years as a Foreign Service Office with the U.S. State 

Department with postings in the Agricultural Policy Office, the Visa Policy Office, the 

India Desk, Honduras, the Philippines, and Washington, DC. He also served as an 

economist with the Economic Research Service working as an oilseeds analyst and he was 

Peace Corps Volunteer in Bangladesh.
30

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

The U.S. Census Bureau provides information that tells the story of our changing economy. The Economic 

Indicators, Economic Census and our quarterly and annual economic surveys give Federal, state, and local 

governments, policy makers, and business and community leaders the information needed to make 

informed decisions that shape our economy.

Issues of Interest to Data Users

1. Accessing Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

• USA Trade Online 

USA Trade Online is a dynamic data tool that gives users access to current and cumulative U.S. 

export and import data. With multiple data sets and capabilities, USA Trade Online can assist 

different types of customers from a wide range of industries and fields. This tool offers data by 

Harmonized System, North America Industry Classification System (NAICS), and the Department 

of Agriculture code. This powerful software allows users to create customized reports and colorful 

charts detailing international trade data at different levels. 

USA Trade Online is a dynamic data tool that gives users access to current and cumulative U.S. 

export and import data. With multiple data sets and capabilities, USA Trade Online can assist 

different types of customers from a wide range of industries and fields. This tool offers data by 

Harmonized System, North America Industry Classification System (NAICS), and the Department 

of Agriculture code. This powerful software allows users to create customized reports and colorful 

charts detailing international trade data at different levels. 

https://usatrade.census.gov/

• Monthly Trade Data in the Census Data API

The U.S. Census Bureau has detailed monthly international trade data in its Application 

Programming Interface (API). The Census Data API has international trade data from 2013 to 

present. The international trade statistics provide monthly and cumulative year-to-date export and 

import totals with multiple layers of detail. The statistics also include two datasets with U.S. 

exports and imports by Department of Agriculture code.

The Application Programming Interface provides researchers and developers free access to its 

demographic and economic data.

https://census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/international-trade.html
31

• Global Marker Finder (GMF)

The Global Market Finder is an interactive data visualization tool that paints a picture of the export 

market for a particular commodity. The user just needs to select the Schedule B code they are 

interested in and the tool will display all the countries that the U.S. exports to, shows value by 

method of transportation, and unit price. Users can drill down to specific countries and download 

the data that they have pulled. 

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/export-markets.html

• Census Business Builder

The Census Business Builder (CBB) is a suite of services that provide selected demographic and 

economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of users in a simple to access and 

use format. The CBB includes: 

o Demographic, socioeconomic, and housing data from the American Community Survey

o Business data from the County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, Economic 

Census, and Survey of Business Owners 

o Trade data on total imports and exports, broken out by mode of transportation (Air & 

Vessel), for selected three- and four-digit agriculture, mining, and manufacturing NAICS 

codes at the national and state level. 

o Building Permits data at the county and place level 

In addition, it provides Agriculture data from the Census of Agriculture (USDA). 

https://www.census.gov/data/data-tools/cbb.html

2. Principal Economic Indicators

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Indicators keep the world informed by providing the first official 

measures of the U.S. economy. Our Economic Indicator surveys provide monthly and quarterly data 

that are timely, reliable, and offer comprehensive measures of the U.S. economy. These surveys 

produce a variety of statistics covering construction, housing, international trade, retail trade, 

wholesale trade, services, and manufacturing. The survey data provide measures of economic activity 

that allow analysis of economic performance and inform business investment and policy decisions. 

The data can be accessed via the Economic Indicator Briefing Room and the Economic Indicator 

Database. 

• Economic Indicator Briefing Room

The Economic Indicator Briefing Room web site provides access to the latest data, full release 

reports, historical data, and time series and trend charts. census.gov/economic-indicators

• Economic Indicator Database

Select an economic indicator and customize your data selection. Ability to download the data to a 

spreadsheet and create your own time series charts. census.gov/econ/currentdata

• For questions regarding Economic Indicators, please contact:

Ms. Stephanie Studds, Chief

Economic Indicators Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 7K154

Washington, DC 20233-6010

Phone: (301) 763-2633

Email: Stephanie.Lee.Studds@census.gov
32

3. International Trade

Each month, the U.S. Census Bureau releases the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services

(FT900) report, which is one of the principal economic indicators for the United States. This report 

can be found along with other information on our website census.gov/trade

Webinars are archived at: https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/outreach/index.html

• 15 CFR PART 30 — Foreign Trade Regulations

For information on the FTR and filing requirements, please email emd.askregs@census.gov or use 

the International Trade Helpline number, 1-800-549-0595 and select option 3.

• Questionable data should be brought to our attention as soon as possible. Potential data errors 

caught early are easier to verify and improve the quality of data going forward. To request data 

verification, please contact Mr. Gregory Kondilas (gregory.kondilas@census.qov), Chief of our 

International Trade Indicator Micro Analysis Branch.

4. Other Economic Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

The Census Bureau produces economic data across the entire economy on a monthly, quarterly, 

yearly, and five-year basis, including industries related to agriculture. These industries can include: 

o NAICS 113 Forestry and Logging 

o NAICS 114 Fishing, Hunting and Trapping 

o NAICS 115 Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry 

o NAICS 311 Food Manufacturing 

o NAICS 4244 Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers 

o NAICS 4245 Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers 

o NAICS 445 Food and Beverage Stores 

• 2017 Economic Census 

The last report from the 2017 Economic Census was released September 16, 2021

Every five years, the U.S. Census Bureau collects extensive statistics about businesses that are 

essential to understanding the American economy. This official count, better known as the Economic 

Census, serves as the foundation for the measurement of U.S. businesses and their economic impact. 

Throughout the year, several products were released including: 

o Geographic Area Statistics 

o Product Statistics by North American Product Classification System (NACPS) 

o Establishment & Firm Size Summary Statistics by Revenue Size and Employment Size of 

Establishments 

o For more information, see https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census.html. 

o Annual Business Survey (ABS) 

o On January 28, 2021, Census released data on minority- and women-owned businesses from 

the ABS for 2018. 
33

The 2017 Economic Census includes coverage in select industries down to the 6-digit NAICS 

level, which include NAICS 311 Food Manufacturing, NAICS 4244 Grocery and Related Product 

Merchant Wholesalers, NAICS 4245 Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers, NAICS 

445 Food and Beverage Stores

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census.html

• Annual Business Survey (ABS)

On January 28, 2021, Census released data on minority- and women-owned businesses from the 

ABS for 2018.

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) is a new joint project between the U.S. Census Bureau and the 

National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. The ABS 

provides data on business ownership by race, ethnicity, sex, and veteran status for employer 

businesses: by 2-digit NAICS (4-6 NAICS in Economic Census years) for the nation and state; and 

2-digit NAICS by county, metro, and place levels. Data are available for NAICS Sector 11 Agriculture, 

Forestry, Fishing and Hunting. 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs.html

• ACES

The Annual Capital Expenditures: 2019 was released December 16, 2020.

The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) is part of a comprehensive program designed to 

provide more detailed and timely information on capital investment in structures and equipment 

by nonfarm enterprises. The data are used to improve the quality of current economic indicators 

of business investments, as well as the quarterly estimates of gross domestic product. The data also 

provide facts about trends in capital expenditures useful for identifying business opportunities,

product development, and business planning. Data are available for NAICS Sector 11 Agriculture, 

Forestry, Fishing and Hunting. 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/aces.html

• County Business Patterns (CBP)

The 2019 County Business Pattern data were released on April 19, 2021.

County Business Patterns provides annual information about establishments with paid employees 

by NAICS industry down to the county level. This series includes the number of establishments, 

employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp.html

• Nonemployer Statistics 

The 2018 Nonemployer Statistics data were released on May 21, 2020.

Nonemployer Statistics provides subnational economic data for businesses that have no paid 

employees and are subject to federal income tax. This series includes the number of businesses 

and total receipts by industry.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics.html

• Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM)

The 2019 Annual Survey of Manufactures data were released on February 18, 2021.

The Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) provides sample estimates of statistics for all 

manufacturing establishments with one or more paid employee. The ASM provides statistics on 

employment, payroll, supplemental labor costs, cost of materials consumed, operating expenses, 
34

value of shipments, value added by manufacturing, detailed capital expenditures, fuels and electric 

energy used, and inventories. Provides statistics on employment, payroll, supplemental labor costs, 

cost of materials consumed, operating expenses, value of shipments, value added by 

manufacturing, detailed capital expenditures, fuels and electric energy used, and inventories. ASM 

includes information on businesses in NAICS 31 Food Manufacturing down to the 3- and 4-digit

NAICS level. 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/asm.html

• Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS) 

The 2019 Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS) data were released on January 28, 2021.

The Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS) produces national estimates of total annual sales, ecommerce sales, sales taxes, end-of-year inventories, purchases, total operating expenses, gross 

margins, and end-of-year accounts receivable for retail businesses located in the United States 

Data are presented at the 4-digit NAICS level. ARTS releases information on businesses including 

NAICS 445 – Food and Beverage Stores. 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/arts.html

• Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (ARTS) 

The 2019 Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS) data were released on January 21, 2021.

The Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS) produces national estimates of total annual sales, 

e-commerce sales, end-of-year inventories, purchases, total operating expenses, gross margins, 

and commissions (for electronic markets, agents, and brokers) for wholesale businesses located in 

the United States. AWTS releases information on NAICS 4244 - Grocery and Related Product 

Merchant Wholesalers and NAICS 4245 - Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers.

https://www.census.gov/awts

Information on all the U.S. Census Bureau’s economic products can be found at 

https://www.census.gov/topics/business-economy.html

5. Other Data

• Household Pulse Survey

The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, produces data on the 

social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households. The Household Pulse Survey 

is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences 

during the coronavirus pandemic. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal 

and state response and recovery planning. The Household Pulse Survey provides information on 

topics including education, housing, food sufficiency and food security, food scarcity, and food 

assistance for children.

https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html

https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/hhp/#/ (interactive data tool)

• Small Business Pulse

The Small Business Pulse Survey (SBPS) measures the effect of changing business conditions 

during the Coronavirus pandemic on our nation’s small businesses. SBPS data complements 

existing U.S. Census Bureau data collections by providing high-frequency, detailed information 

on the challenges small businesses are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/small-business-pulse-survey.html

https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/ (interactive data tool)
35

• COVID-19 Data Hub

The U.S. Census Bureau’s COVID-19 Hub contains demographic and economic data designed to 

help guide decision-making related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interactive platform includes 

key demographic data from the American Community Survey and key data on businesses with one 

or more paid employees from the County Business Patterns program. In addition, the COVID-19 

Data Hub brings together data from multiple Federal agencies including the USDA’s Emergency 

Food Assistance Program and private sector organizations. The hub was built in collaboration with 

ESRI and leverages many features of the ArcGIS platform and solution templates.

https://covid19.census.gov/
36

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

STATISTICS DIVISION

What’s New and What’s Changing?

NASS Mission Statement:

To provide timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. Agriculture

Crops

NASS updated acreage estimates for corn, sorghum, soybeans, and sugarbeets in the September Crop 

Production report, one month earlier than normal. The necessary data, including survey data, satellitebased data, and the latest information from USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, 

were sufficiently complete to support the review. This change was for 2021 only, however NASS will 

continue to consider whether or not to adjust the schedule in future years.

In September 2021, NASS published the first Methodology and Quality Measures reports for Annual Crop 

Production and Small Grains Summary. These reports contain details concerning the survey methodology 

as well as quality metrics that describe the performance data for all surveys contributing to the published 

harvested acreage, yield, and production estimates for corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat. Plans are to 

publish these reports annually.

NASS is conducting the first hemp survey in fall 2021. The Hemp Acreage and Production Survey collects 

information on the acreage, yield, production, price, and value of hemp in the United States. The Domestic 

Hemp Production Program established in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) 

allows for the cultivation of hemp under certain conditions. The Hemp Acreage and Production Survey 

will provide needed data about the hemp industry to assist producers, regulatory agencies, state 

governments, processors, and other key industry entities. The results will be published in February 2022.

Beginning in December 2021, the round white and long white potatoes will no longer be published 

separately but rather as a combined white total in the Potato Stocks reports. This change will make stocks 

estimates consistent with acreage estimates and is expected to allow more data to be published.

Beginning with the 2021 crop season, NASS will discontinue the December forecast of pecan production 

as well as the preliminary acreage, yield, production, and price estimates previously published in January 

for pecans. These estimates were funded through an external funding agreement which was not renewed 

by the funding entity.

NASS is currently finalizing a review of the annual Floriculture program. This review follows the 

2019 Census of Horticultural Specialties and involves consideration of states included in the annual 

program as well as analysis of which crops to include. Once all changes are finalized and approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) all details will be published on the NASS website.

As part of our efforts to continually improve, NASS launched a thorough review of the Grain Stocks

program last fall. For the past year a team of experts across the Agency has taken a close look at every 
37

aspect of the program from data collection through publication. The team is currently in the process of 

finalizing their recommendations which will be reviewed and prioritized for action in the upcoming year.

Livestock

Annual Methodology and Quality Measures reports for Hogs and Pigs (December 2020), Cattle 

(March 2021), Cattle on Feed (March 2021), and Milk Production (March 2021) continue to be published. 

During this past year, NASS made improvements and standardization to the annual Methodology and 

Quality Measures reports for Catfish, Honey, Mink, Sheep and Goats, and Trout. These reports were 

released in 2021. 

Beginning in June 2021, NASS hosts Stat Chat on Twitter after the releases of Quarterly Hogs and Pigs

and Cattle reports. This provides an opportunity for the public to ask questions pertaining to the release. 

Coming in 2021, Methodology and Quality Measures reports for the first time for Chickens and Eggs

(published in July 2021), and Honey Bee Colonies. 

Environmental, Economics and Demographics 

Recently, NASS released data visualization for the U.S. Congressional Districts based on the 2017 Census 

of Agriculture. The visualization includes gradient scaling of a US map with data such as rankings of 

gross value of sales and market value of agricultural products sold by category. The link is:

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Data_Visualization/Census/index.php

On January 22, 2021, NASS released Typology, the last data series from the 2017 Census of Agriculture. 

Typology focuses primarily on the family farm and classifies all farms into categories based on 

two criteria – who owns the operation and gross cash farm income (GCFI). 

On May 26, 2021, NASS published the Farm Labor report. Beginning with this release, the coefficients 

of variation associated with model-based estimates were published. 

On May 14, 2021, Field Crop Chemical Usage data was released. Originating in 1990, the NASS 

Chemical Use data series is USDA’s official source of statistics about on-farm chemical use and pest 

management practices. 

On July 21, 2021, Vegetable Chemical Usage data was released. This report is released every other year. 

Originating in 1990, the NASS Chemical Use data series is USDA’s official source of statistics about 

on-farm chemical use and pest management practices.

On August 18, 2021, Farm Computer Usage and Ownership data was released. These data are published 

every other year and present data on farm computer usage including ownership, internet access and farm 

business use. For the first time, use of precision ag technology was published at the state and national 

level.

The Cash Rents county level data was published on August 27, 2021. NASS was directed through the 

“Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008” and amended by the “Agricultural Act of 2014” to collect 

cash rents data for use by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in program administration. For this year, cash 

rent district estimates were not published in order to publish more county level estimates. Beginning with 
38

the 2021 estimate year, model-based county-level estimates were incorporated into the NASS estimation 

process for county-level rates. Bayesian small area models for county-level rented acre totals and rental 

rates were fit separately for each practice and processed in batches; common methodologies were applied 

nationwide. Rental rate models input current and previous year survey ratios and standard errors, previous 

official statistics, a National Commodity Crop Productivity Index variable, and the number of reports 

obtained.

On November 24, 2021, the Farm Labor data will be released. The sample size will be reduced for this 

survey as a result of discontinuing the collection of data for base wages and hours.

In Spring, 2022, NASS will conduct the Conservation Practices Adoption Motivation Survey (CPAM). 

CPAM is a two-year cooperative effort with NRCS to measure farmers’ and ranchers’ conservation 

practices adoption behaviors and adoption reasons on cropland, grazing land, forest land and concentrated 

livestock feeding operations. 

Census of Agriculture Program 

Planning is in full swing for the 2022 Census of Agriculture. In January 2022, NASS will conduct a test 

of its online reporting instrument. The test is critical for determining the functionality of the web 

instrument and inform NASS on ways to make online reporting better for respondents while still gathering 

high quality data. For the first time this census of agriculture, NASS intends to provide online respondents 

with access to select data that they have previously reported in a recent NASS survey. 

Throughout 2021, NASS continued to build the Census Mail List for the 2022 Census of Agriculture. For 

this cycle, NASS has screened over a million potential farmers and ranchers with another million set to 

be screened in 2022. There has been a lot of emphasis put on finding urban farming operations this census 

cycle along with expanding the coverage of minority operations. It is anticipated that the 2022 Census of 

Agriculture will be mailed to around 3 million farms and ranches in December 2022.

Modernization 

USDA NASS is committed to high standards of customer service and making interaction with us as easy 

as possible. We are modernizing our online systems to improve the customer experience reporting data to 

NASS and accessing NASS official federal agricultural data and reports. We are making accurate data 

available on schedule in ways that customers want. Our modernizing efforts will be extended to farmers 

and ranchers selected to respond more than 400 NASS annual surveys. 

NASS has embarked on numerous efforts to modernize our customer interfaces to make responding to 

surveys and accessing NASS data and reports faster, friendlier, and easier. The modernizations are also 

intended to make NASS work more efficiently. Modernization will be focused in two areas.

Data Collection - NASS plans to release our new Respondent Portal in 2022. Our goal is to 

deliver exceptional customer experience and incorporate new data sources and data collection 

techniques to reduce respondent burden, while maintaining confidentiality and privacy. 

▪ Streamlined authentication process to provide a convenient, central point to 

respond to NASS surveys, and customized dissemination products will improve our 

customers’ experience and streamline our data collection processes. 
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▪ Provide a customized digital experience designed around the user’s needs and 

behaviors. Farmers and ranchers will be able to build and save custom homepages 

to compare their data with other (national, state, county) data. 

▪ Integration with USDA Farmers.gov website, allowing farmers, ranchers, and 

agribusinesses to expand their access to multiple USDA agencies’ information to 

make decisions for their operation that are fact based and data driven.

Data Dissemination - In early 2022, the NASS Strategic Initiative 3, Data Dissemination 

System, is planned for roll-out. A new Dairy release landing page is planned to replace the 

current paper-based releases. The first topic areas going live will feature: Milk production, 

milk PDI, cattle, cold storage, dairy products, livestock slaughter, and non-Census organic 

data. Later in 2022, these items are scheduled for roll-out: Economics releases, field crops, 

more livestock commodities, and aquaculture. In 2023, horticulture, floriculture, 

demographics, poultry, and fruits, nuts and vegetables are planned for production. The data 

will be formatted for efficient query capabilities and presented in modern, dynamic pages.

NASS is committed to providing timely, accurate, and useful agricultural data that help all data users in 

their work. 

Visit the NASS website (www.nass.usda.gov) and follow us on Twitter @usda_nass to stay up to date.