New USDA Effort Streamlines Crop Reporting Process

The US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is working with farmers, ranchers, and insurance companies to create a centralized electronic filing source for crop acreage reports, the agency announced Tuesday.

Dubbed the USDA Acreage Crop Reporting Streaming Initiative, the agency’s effort allows farmers and ranchers to file a single acreage to the USDA that can be digitally shared with the Risk Management Agency (RMA).

“If you file your report at one location, the data that’s important to both FSA and RMA will be securely and electronically shared with the other location, said FSA Administrator Val Dolcini in a statement. “This will avoid redundant and duplicative reporting, and we expect this to save farmers and ranchers time.”

Insurance companies and crop insurance companies approved by the RMA will also get access to the data.

“Accuracy in crop reporting is a key component for crop insurance, because an error in this information can affect premiums or claims. This is going to greatly improve efficiencies and reduce mistakes,” RMA Administrator Brandon Willis said in the agency’s release.

Farmers and ranchers had expressed concern that they were forced to report the same information to multiple agencies, prompting the USDA to begin streamlining the crop reporting process in 2009.