The USDA’s Farm Almanac

Talk about a site containing anything you’d ever want to know about all things agricultural! That’s what you’ll find at the USDA Economics and Statistics System (usda.mannlib.cornell.edu) web site operated through Cornell University’s Albert R. Mann Library.

A partnership between Cornell, the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB), this site contains nearly 100 reports and 200 datasets generated by the economic agencies of the USDA. The ERS provides economic analysis on efficiency, efficacy and equity issues related to agriculture, food, the environment and rural development—everything from “America’s Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences” to “Genetically Engineered Crops for Pest Management” to “Vertical Coordination in the Pork and Broiler Industries.” The WAOB, responsible for coordinating the USDA’s commodity forecasting program, monitors global weather and analyzes its impact on agriculture. And the NASS provides data gleaned from the hundreds of surveys it conducts each year and prepares reports covering virtually every facet of U.S. agriculture—production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, you name it.

Truly, if it has anything to do with agriculture, economics and statistics, and it’s been published by the USDA, you’ll find it here.