USDA Revives July Cattle Report, Others

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- USDA's July Cattle and County Estimates for Crops and Livestock reports will be reinstated, the agency announced on Wednesday, after cutting them last year amid a budget shortfall despite concerns about impact on market transparency.

The reinstatement will be effective for the 2024 season for row crops (corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans) and 2025 season for small grains (barley, oats, wheat).

The July Cattle report will be released on July 25. The NASS County Estimates will be staggered throughout May:

-- May 6: corn, sorghum, soybean yields

-- May 12: cotton yields

-- May 13: cattle

-- May 23: rice, peanut yields

NASS decided to terminate the reports, along with the Cotton Objective Yield Survey, last year amid a budget crunch. At the time, the cattle and crop sectors worried that losing the reports would remove transparency from the market and disrupt a multitude of systems within government and private sectors that required these data points.

"Markets work best with active and informed participants, and the USDA's reinstatement of the July Cattle Inventory report would help producers with just that," DTN Livestock Market Analyst ShayLe Stewart said. "It's difficult for producers to remain up-to-date with the state of the U.S. cowherd when they're only given official data once a year. Our world and markets alike move faster than ever before, and so it's vital that producers have current and up-to-date market intel so that they can make the soundest business decisions possible."

In 2024, USDA said it would take more than $7.5 million to restore the two reports. A USDA spokesperson didn't return DTN's request for more information on the decision to revive the reports.

The agency's 2024 budget was cut 11% from the prior year to $187.5 million. While the 2023 budget included some funds for the Census of Agriculture, the budget allocation was also made six months into the budgeting year, leaving NASS fewer options of what to cut.

The NASS County Estimates report has received plenty of criticism over the years, too. The Risk Management Agency (RMA) also produces county yield estimates, albeit using a different statistical method using actual producer data, raising concerns about duplicative efforts. NASS's yield estimates rely on surveys of farmers, but falling response rates and producer distrust have made it tougher for USDA to publish.

DTN Lead Analyst Rhett Montgomery said USDA's late adjustment to the national average yield in 2024 raised eyebrows, and more detailed information on yields "will work to increase the accuracy of the supply side of the U.S. balance sheet for the remainder of the marketing year. Thus, adding to the overall reliability in later USDA estimates and increased market efficiency as a result of more precise research that county level data provides."

He added, "The reinstatement of county level yield and production data by NASS will be a welcomed move."

For more on the history of the reports' cancellation, please read "NASS Survey Cuts 'Uncomfortable'" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Katie Dehlinger can be reached at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com

Follow her on social media platform X at @KatieD_DTN

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