Rollins: USDA to request comments on data 

Apparently responding to a loss of confidence in the Agriculture Department’s data reports, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last week that USDA will ask stakeholders to comment on how to improve its data collection and release system. 

In a speech to the annual USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum, Rollins said that USDA wants to “frame” the status of the market, not determine the outcomes. 

She said USDA is publishing a request for information on its reports and that stakeholders will have 45 days to submit comments. 

USDA Chief Economist Justin Benavides said the request for information should be on the USDA website either Feb. 20 or Monday. 

A June acreage “miss” in the Agriculture Department’s acreage report and subsequent revisions have left many in the industry questioning how such large shifts could occur in a short window and whether the data driving markets can be trusted, Farm Journal’s AgWeb reported recently. 

In a half-hour speech, Rollins once again blamed the Biden administration, which she said did a lot to “hollow out” American agriculture and said that the Trump administration has been working since Jan. 20, 2025 to “reset, restore, revivify” the industry. She did note that some of the headwinds facing agriculture don’t depend on who is in the White House. 

Rollins also noted:

• President Trump will return to China in March.
• Food imports have gone down, which she said shows Americans are eating more domestically produced food. 
• Take-home pay for Americans has increased as much as $10,000 for a family of four.
• USDA will add 30 million acres to eligibility for Title I subsidy programs.
• The Trump administration will continue to focus on anti-competitive behavior, especially by foreign corporations if it increases the cost of living and the cost of doing business.