The U.S. Agriculture Department has kept tabs for decades on a wide range of agricultural industries that generate billions of dollars for the U.S. economy. The agency has decided to eliminate some reports and reduce the frequency of others to save millions of dollars.
Sue duPont, a spokeswoman for the USDA, stated that, “eliminating or reducing the frequency of 14 crop and livestock reports will save the National Agricultural Statistics Service about $10 million. NASS’s $156 million budget was cut in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 and more reductions are expected this year as Congress and the White House aim to trim federal spending.”
“The agency based its choices on the reports’ impact on markets and use by other programs that provide assistance to farmers, along with the availability of information from other sources.”
Roger Barlow, executive vice president of Catfish Farmers of America, stated that, “the annual report on his industry tells his organization’s 800 members how many millions of tons of catfish are being produced in how many acres of water, how much is being held by processors and what prices are being paid.”
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Posted 10/28/2011
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