Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » Report recommends changes to NASS methods
economy research USDA
DATA USE ...

Report recommends changes to NASS methods

Report recommends changes to county crop & cash rent estimation methods used by NASS

PUBLISHED ON October 12, 2017

NASS surveys are the basis of crop and cash rent estimates, which are vital to efficiency in the agricultural market and the evaluation of farmland, helping industry participants decide on what to grow, how to determine sales, and the availability of food, as well as rental and loan rates for farmland. (Asha Gupta, Flickr/Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON — Producing more precise county-level estimates of crops and farmland cash rents will require integrating multiple data sources using model-based predictions that are more transparent and reproducible, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report provides a vision of how the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) can accomplish this.

NASS surveys are the basis of crop and cash rent estimates, which are vital to efficiency in the agricultural market and the evaluation of farmland, helping industry participants decide on what to grow, how to determine sales, and the availability of food, as well as rental and loan rates for farmland. But over time, survey response rates have declined, creating challenges for county data users including the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, who use the county estimates as part of their processes for administering USDA programs, including providing farm insurance and determining farmland rental rates and farm subsidies. As a result, when official NASS estimates are not reliable due to low survey response, alternative estimates may be used that are neither transparent nor reproducible.

Currently, the Agricultural Statistics Board (ASB) of NASS determines county estimates, using survey responses along with other available information. To achieve transparency and reproducibility, the report recommends developing, evaluating, validating, documenting, and using model-based estimates that incorporate both survey data and complementary data such as administrative data, satellite and other remote sensing data, and precision agriculture data. The recommended inclusion of measures of uncertainty with the model estimates allow users to determine the utility of the estimates. The report further recommends that NASS shift the ASB role from integrating multiple data sources to ensuring that the models used for the integration are continually assessed and validated via a feedback loop that suggests modifications to improve model performance. A key factor in combining survey data with complementary data is the development of a geo-referenced list frame from which the farms to be surveyed are selected. Then the location of the farm can be used to tie the multiple data sources about the farm together with the survey response.

The report acknowledges that given its limited resources, it may take NASS many years to develop a geo-referenced list frame, appropriate models, and other components needed for this vision of improved county level estimates. The report suggests a two-part plan of action that could be completed by 2025, as well as breaking down each stage into individual projects to be executed by different groups within NASS, each over the course of three years. This allows NASS to continue its ongoing schedule and workload while implementing gradual change to their estimation practices.

The study was sponsored by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org.

–National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
via EurekAlert!

For more articles concerning research, click here.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Smarter planning needed to safeguard Midwest farmland
July 11, 2022

WASHINGTON — Smart growth and investment in Midwest downtowns and main streets must occur now to secure the land that grows our food, according to American Farmland Trust’s new report Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future and the accompanying web mapping tool.   AFT’s Farms Under Threat research has shown that by 2040, as many […]

OCA BEST
Cattlemen youth awarded at BEST banquet
May 11, 2022

MARYSVILLE, Ohio — The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association’s (OCA) Beef Exhibitor Show Total (BEST) program wrapped up the 2021-2022 BEST season on May 7 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus. More than 800 BEST exhibitors and families gathered to watch youth receive awards for their show success, cattle industry knowledge, photography skills, community service efforts and […]

Cattlemen youth celebrate BEST season
May 12, 2021

MARYSVILLE, Ohio — Awards and prizes filled the stage as families gathered to commemorate an unusual year at the annual Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) BEST (Beef Exhibitor Show Total) awards banquet held on May 1 at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Columbus. Over 350 BEST exhibitors were awarded for their show success, cattle industry knowledge, […]

Alliance for NY's Farmland applauds state budget
April 07, 2021

ALBANY — The Alliance for New York’s Farmland, a coalition of farmers, land trusts, and agricultural and environmental organizations led by American Farmland Trust (AFT), applauds the passage of New York’s SFY22 budget, which includes unprecedented support for programs to keep land in farming and farmers on the land. A third of New York’s farmers […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

Watching photosynthesis... from space

USDA processing pending CRP offers

Primary Sidebar

MORE

NATIONAL CLIPS

National FFA Organization selected to participate in the Advancing Racial Equity Community of Practice initiative
January 27, 2023
Six reasons to bring millets to the market!
January 27, 2023
Statement from Agriculture Secretary on departure of Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh
January 26, 2023
76th Annual Rangelands Meeting
January 26, 2023
99 Counties - Farming for Good Health!
January 26, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Statement from Agriculture Secretary on departure of Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh
January 26, 2023
Research Center for Farming Innovation
Wiebbecke to lead ISA’s Research Center for Farming Innovation
January 26, 2023
Focus on Forage
Focus on Forage webinar series in Feb/March
January 26, 2023
USDA NASS conducts hemp survey
January 26, 2023
larger crop seeds
UK study could help fight food insecurity
January 26, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.