BOONE, Iowa — At the Farm Progress Show, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins outlined USDA plans spanning data modernization, biofuels, fertilizer reshoring, and a forthcoming phase in rebuilding the cattle herd. She spoke during a Sept. 1 keynote and a subsequent news conference. Reuters has reported on the department’s satellite and artificial intelligence pilot for crop estimates and on Tyson Foods disputing her characterization of its plans for shuttered beef plants. The remaining highlights are below.
USDA Data Modernization Plan at Farm Progress Show
1. Rollins cited her Tyson commitment twice the same afternoon.
From the stage, Rollins said she had a guarantee from Tyson. “I also have a commitment from the head of Tyson that those plants will not be sold to any foreign interests or foreign owners; that they will be dedicated to American-owned co-ops, ranchers, businesses,” she said, crediting the company’s leadership.
Later, she clarified the exchange was with Tyson CEO Donnie King, adding, “Mr. King told me that they would make sure that if it moves or when it moves, it would be to American-owned company or producers.” Tyson told Reuters it will consider any buyer, foreign or domestic, and that its position has not changed. Rollins said her concern is that one of the remaining large packers could absorb the idled capacity, and she linked that to foreign purchases of U.S. egg and pork operations and farmland. “We have been asleep,” she said.
2. The satellite pilot is one of four pillars in USDA’s Data Modernization Plan. The plan also focuses on improving the reporting experience, integrating technology platforms, and advancing what the department terms “trust and transparency with producers.” Reporting upgrades include mobile survey options, prefilled fields, and broader use of existing USDA records.
“These changes will reduce the duplicative requests that you receive over and over,” Rollins said, noting the plan followed a February request for information and listening sessions at state fairs and farm shows.
3. Pilots are expected this year, with transitions in 2027 and permanence the following year. Scott Hutchins, under secretary for research, education and economics and USDA’s chief scientist, said new methods will not replace legacy approaches until they have been validated against historical data.
“We want to be able to provide information continuously through the year and avoid the kinds of surprises that sometimes we experience,” Hutchins said.
4. USDA will show its work. Beginning with the 2024 and 2025 crop seasons, the National Agricultural Statistics Service will issue Crop Season in Review reports that compare in-season forecasts to final numbers and detail the inputs behind them. NASS will also host a quarterly Survey Chat for producer questions.
“We need to create a mindset that we haven’t fixed something, we’ve improved it, and we’re going to continually improve it,” Hutchins said.
5. NASS is preparing a new data tool called Ag Insights. Hutchins said the tool will allow producers to access agency statistics on phones or tablets instead of combing through PDFs.
6. Farmers.gov is being rebuilt for early next year. USDA Chief Information Officer Sam Berry said producers will be able to log in and see what the department has on file about them. “We want you to know what the government knows about you,” he said of the system that will consolidate records from the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency.
7. The prior modernization effort is being shut down. Berry said half of Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems will be turned off in November and the rest next spring. He described MIDAS as a system that “cost a billion dollars” and delivered a fraction of what was intended.
The Government Accountability Office has put MIDAS spending at about $423 million between 2004 and July 2014, when then-Secretary Tom Vilsack halted it, achieving about 20% of planned functionality after estimates ranging from $330 million to $659 million. Berry said a new acreage reporting system reached every county office in late August, fully retiring the old platform. Richard Fordyce, under secretary for farm production and conservation, said the next step is pulling data directly from farm equipment, a project USDA is pursuing with manufacturers exhibiting at the show.
Farm Progress Show policy updates
8. On biofuels, Rollins outlined record renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard, summer waivers for E15, and a new regenerative feedstock rule. She said that a 100% reallocation of excess RINs by 2027 was announced the day before the show.
9. The U.S. imports about 60% of its fertilizer, Rollins said, and efforts to lower that share span four departments. She cited groundbreakings for two Louisiana plants, one permitted in 45 days, and more than 80 USDA-backed projects nationwide. In June, USDA committed $500 million to the Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long Term Domestic Supply program.
10. The cattle package previewed in Boone has since been released. Rollins recapped the Ranchers First Initiative announced in Nebraska the day prior, which establishes a Beef Retention and National Development endorsement, or BRAND, under Livestock Risk Protection. The endorsement allows producers to insure the economic value of retaining a heifer for breeding over two years.
The package also broadens federal beef procurement across the Department of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of War, and Health and Human Services, and launches an initiative for beginning and veteran farmers. Rollins told the Boone audience USDA would prioritize one million Conservation Reserve Program grassland acres for grazing. That figure does not appear in the department’s written announcement.
Rollins recapped the Ranchers First Initiative announced in Nebraska the day prior, which establishes a Beef Retention and National Development endorsement, or BRAND, under Livestock Risk Protection. The endorsement allows producers to insure the economic value of retaining a heifer for breeding over two years, an approach that could intersect with land access hurdles for the next generation of cattle producers.
Producers can learn more about USDA services and modernization efforts by visiting the department’s official USDA website. Policy shifts around biofuels, including record renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard, will continue to shape planting and investment decisions in the years ahead.