The Department of Agriculture has formed an internal committee to review and improve survey response rates after a record low number of responses. USDA says responses to the September 30th Grain Stocks Report fell to a record low of 65.5 percent. Responses did improve some for the October 12th Crop Production report, coming in at 71.3 percent. Still, those tallies are historically low. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports USDA is now working with groups like the National Corn Growers Association to encourage farmers to respond to such surveys. Pro Farmer proclaims the data included in USDA reports is especially important considering crop yield data is one of the factors used to calculate payments under the 2014 Farm Bill.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.