Why Change Is Coming to How U.S. Reports Farming Data

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is upending decades of custom and barring journalists from advance access to major market-moving crop and livestock reports, starting Aug. 1. Organizations including Bloomberg LP examine data in advance so they can relay accurate information as soon as USDA -- and other federal agencies that similarly allow early examination of reports -- releases it. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on July 10 that because of technological changes, journalists can now get information to their readers faster than the USDA can put it on its website, creating an unfair advantage.

USDA reports are considered by many traders the gold standard of agricultural information, because government surveys provide the most comprehensive look at crop and livestock trends in the U.S. and worldwide. The monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, and quarterly surveys of crop inventories, are among the publications closely watched by traders as key gauges of supply and demand. Markets can fluctuate wildly in the moments after their release, as trading houses try to exploit surprises in the data to buy and sell commodities.