Feb 17, 2020NASS to end county-level estimates for potatoes, other crops
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will no longer publish county-level estimates for potatoes, dry edible beans, flaxseed, hay (alfalfa and other), sugarbeets, sugarcane, sunflower (non-oil and oil varieties) and tobacco.
In addition, NASS will discontinue county estimates based on irrigated/non-irrigated practices for all crops. These changes are effective beginning with the 2019 crop year.
The data collection cost for the surveys used to gather the data used for county level estimates had been partially funded through a cooperative agreement, which was not renewed. As a result, NASS is adjusting its county estimates program to reflect the lower funding availability. Before making this decision, NASS published the details of these intended changes in a Federal Register Notice, which allowed public comment. All feedback was carefully reviewed and considered before making the decision to discontinue these estimates.
All NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov .
