Lance Honig, Chair of the USDA Agricultural Statistics Board, says there seems to be some confusion about a heads-up that USDA gave to commodities traders.
The agency issued a notice reminding them acreage updates for corn and soybeans could come in the August reports that are due on Monday, August 12. Some traders took this to mean changes are coming, but Honig says that鈥檚 not necessarily the case. He said the heads-up was intended to be a process reminder.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same process we鈥檝e been using for years,鈥 he notes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just coming earlier as the processing improvements in the Farm Service Agency鈥檚 reporting have made the planting data more complete quicker than in the past.鈥
The Chair of the USDA Agricultural Statistics Board says while the FSA data is highly valuable for planted acreage numbers, it is of very limited value for harvested acreage at this point in the season.
