Digital Acreage Reporting
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson. Digital crop acreage reporting has just gone national, rather than the way it used to be at FSA county offices …
FORDYCE … “More than likely, we handed them a paper map and a pencil, and we said, ‘Okay, start writing down the crop in each field and write the plant date…and we’ve been doing that for a long time.”
But no longer, Farm Production Undersecretary Richard Fordyce says, this comes after a 12-county pilot program that showed digital reporting using geospatial maps really does work …
FORDYCE … “So now, every county in the country has the ability to do that. They will be converting their acreage reporting to the new system.”
With data used across all three of Fordyce’s mission areas …
FORDYCE … “So that we are reporting acres, we are doing our risk management, we’re doing our conservation.”
Fordyce says the modernized acreage reporting platform will be available for crops seeded this fall. And, looking ahead …
FORDYCE … “In the not-too-distant future, we’re going to have the ability to receive precision ag data that will help populate those acreage reporting maps. And, ultimately, we’re going to have the ability for farmers to be able to do their acreage reporting if they want to, or to check on their acreage report, via a digital device.”
Frodyce says this will engage with an interactive map to adjust field boundaries, planting dates and other data, saving farmers and FSA staff time versus the old system.
