The Economic Research Service provides key indicators, outlook analysis, and a wealth of data on the U.S. food and agricultural system. Along with information on farming practices, structure, and performance, ERS produces data on such diverse topics as farm and rural households, commodity markets, food marketing, agricultural trade, diet and health, food safety, food and nutrition assistance programs, natural resources and the environment, and the rural economy.
Foreign Agricultural Service maintains a global agricultural market intelligence and commodity reporting service to provide U.S. farmers and traders with information on world agricultural production and trade for use in adjusting to changes in world demand for U.S. agricultural products. Reporting includes data on foreign government policies, analysis of supply and demand conditions, commercial trade relationships, and market opportunities. In addition to survey data, crop condition assessment relies heavily on computer-aided analyses of satellite, meteorological, agricultural, and related data.
National Agricultural Statistics Service collects, summarizes, analyzes, and publishes agricultural production and marketing data on a wide range of items, including number of farms and land in farms, acreage, yield, production, stocks of grains, and numerous commodities. The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years to collect information on the number of farms, land use, production expenses, value of land, buildings, and farm products, farm size, characteristics of farm operators, market value of agricultural production sold, acreage of major crops, inventory of livestock and poultry, and farm irrigation practices.
