Opening of Government Brings Much Needed USDA Reports

The Department of Agriculture did not supply more than 60 reports during the government shutdown and will supply much of that data next month. USDA announced Monday many reports, including final production reports for 2018 will be published on February 8th, the same date of the February World Agriculture Supply and Demand report. However, American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Veronica Nigh says some of the data “will never be available.” For example, the January World Agriculture Supply and Demand report will never be published, but some of the data will be rolled into the February report. Many market analysts warn to watch for a glut of data from USDA that could shock the market over the next few weeks as markets had previously relied on privately reported data during the shutdown, but USDA reports are often considered a benchmark in reporting.