More transparency of the data released by the National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) and adoption of new and innovative technology would help improve confidence in the agency's estimates, according to a report from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
The group also said that the agency needs to deploy even faster computers and needs more resources to boost its development of more-innovative ways of data gathering and analysis.
The group also pledged to work with NASS to help the effort to bolster their data, including what the group said was a key: “Finally, and most importantly, Farm Bureaus across the U.S. should actively work to encourage farmers' accurate and timely participation in NASS data collection efforts.”
AFBF put the working group together after its members voted to have the group study the NASS data collection and reporting methodologies in the wake of surprise data releases from NASS in 2019 in the wake of flooding and weather-related planting delay