USDA's Cancellation of Monthly Reports

Farmers will have to wait until next month for another USDA report on this season's crop production as October's report as well as the supply and demand have been cancelled.

UDSA's World Outlook Board Chairman Gerry Bange explains why the October Supply and Demand forecast will not be issued.

Bange: "What we've decided to do is just wait and come out with our November report as normally scheduled. The reason is one of the things we don't want to do is put out data that we can't vouch for anymore. The data we have at this point is old, with regard to the international scene. And of course a key ingredient to the WASDE report is in fact the domestic numbers coming from the National Ag Statistic Service. And they too are having problems with regard to getting all their data back together and getting their reports schedule and so forth and so on. Their data collection has become something of an issue. So it is a very difficult situation but we are making the best of it. I think we will be back in order by the time we get to the November report."

This is the first time ever the USDA has cancelled a monthly report. The release dates have been moved up or postponed in the past, but never before cancelled. Even with the past government shutdown of 1995-96, back then USDA had its appropriations for fiscal year 1996, so it was business as usual.