05 September 2026, Washington, D.C: The U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out a new plan on September 1 to overhaul how it collects and uses farm data, promising fewer duplicate paperwork requests and more accurate crop estimates for growers across the country. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced the initiative at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, calling it part of a broader effort to put farmers first.
The plan rests on four pillars. The first focuses on modernizing how USDA collects information from producers, including wider use of existing administrative records, better mobile access for surveys, prefilled forms where the department already has the data, and fewer repeat requests for the same information. Farm groups have long complained that federal agencies ask for similar figures multiple times a year through different survey instruments, adding hours of paperwork during already busy planting and harvest windows.
The second pillar targets acreage and yield estimation, the backbone of USDA’s monthly crop reports that traders, lenders, and farmers rely on to gauge supply and set prices. USDA said it will pilot improved satellite imagery, geospatial mapping tools, and crop growth models, combining these with data producers submit directly. The goal is to narrow the gap between early season estimates and final harvest numbers, a gap that has drawn criticism from commodity groups in recent years when reports diverged sharply from on the ground conditions.
Third, the department plans to integrate its various data and technology platforms, many of which currently operate as separate systems across different agencies. That includes modernizing back end infrastructure, expanding secure data sharing between USDA offices, and testing artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to process the large volumes of information the department already holds.
The fourth pillar addresses trust, a persistent concern among farmers wary of how their operational data might be used or shared. USDA said it will strengthen privacy protections, explain more clearly how collected data feeds into policy and program decisions, and create more channels for producers to give feedback on data collection methods and response burden.
Kip Tom, USDA’s Special Advisor for Data Modernization, and Dr. Scott Hutchins, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, are leading the effort alongside Rollins. The department said implementation begins immediately, with ongoing engagement planned with farm groups, land grant universities, and technology providers as the pillars are built out over the coming months.
Rollins framed the plan as a way to cut what she called burdensome red tape while giving producers modern tools and a stronger voice in how USDA gathers and uses their information.
Industry reaction has been cautiously positive. Data accuracy has become a bigger issue as fewer farmers respond to voluntary USDA surveys, a trend the department has acknowledged for several years. Lower response rates can widen the margin of error in acreage and production estimates, which ripple through futures markets, crop insurance calculations, and farm loan decisions. A more automated, less duplicative data system could ease survey fatigue and, in theory, improve response rates over time, though the practical impact will depend on how quickly USDA can build and deploy the tools described in the plan.
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