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Agriculture and Food Data and Information Resources

A listing of free data and information resources. These are good places to start when you have food and agriculture questions, and the more you understand about the data, the better you can determine if it can help address your questions. 

List 1: Eleven USDA and Related Data Resources

If you have an agriculture- or food- related question, especially one related to U.S. agriculture, and are wondering where to find data and have no idea where to start, here are 11 free USDA and related data resources available for data queries or downloads:

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  1. USDA NASS Quickstats: https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ Sitting at 46.6 million data records today, this database includes Census and Survey data gathered by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), with many timeseries stretching back decades on yield, price, production, and more.

  2. USDA RMA Information Browser: https://legacy.rma.usda.gov/tools/ USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the federal crop insurance program and many aspects of crop and disaster data are available.

  3. USDA AMS Market News: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/custom-reports USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Custom Reports tool allows you to pull data on various crop, livestock, and dairy information, especially useful for local market reports and information.

  4. USDA ERS ARMS Data: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/arms-farm-financial-and-crop-production-practices/ USDA’s Economic Research Service data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey provides info on production practices, resource use, and economic well-being of farmers.

  5. USDA ERS Data products: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ Besides the ARMS data, a host of information across many food, agriculture, resource, and rural subject areas is compiled here.

  6. USDA OCE WASDE: https://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist, World Agricultural Outlook Board publishes World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates each month for major U.S. commodities.

  7. USDA FAS GATS: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/gats/default.aspx USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service provides U.S. and international trade data in the Global Agricultural Trade System.

  8. USDA FAS PS&D: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/app/index.html#/app/home USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service provides U.S. and international supply and demand table info in the Production, Supply, and Distribution Online interface.

  9. U.S. Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/DataDownload.aspx Data on drought in the U.S.

  10. USDA NRCS Geospatial Data: https://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/GDGHome_DirectDownLoad.aspx USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service clearinghouse for their most requested geospatial data files.

  11. USDA FNS Program Data: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/overview USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service information on food programs such as SNAP, WIC, and others.

 

There are many, many USDA and other sources of data out there, each with their own considerations, and these are just a few sources of many possible sources of information to explore.

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---12/13/22

List 2: Eleven Non-USDA Data Resources

Since the list of USDA data sources seemed useful to folks, below is a list of 11 non-USDA data and information sources that are also rich in data points that may be helpful in researching or answering questions related to U.S. agriculture and its intersection with the broader economy.

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  1. Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ A super useful interface for a wide variety of U.S. economic data, compiled from many sources.

  2. Federal Reserve Regional Agricultural Surveys- Kansas City, Chicago, Minneapolis : https://www.kansascityfed.org/agriculture/ag-credit-survey/ ; https://www.chicagofed.org/research/data/ag-conditions/index ; https://www.minneapolisfed.org/region-and-community/regional-economic-indicators These Federal Reserve banks offer regional tracking of agriculture conditions and often provide leading indicators of changes that are coming for the broader ag economy.

  3. U.S. Census Bureau Demographic Data: https://www.census.gov/data.html Extensive timeseries related to demographics in the U.S., including data specific to rural areas.

  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/data/#prices Monthly food price timeseries and inflation estimates. Also employment and wage data, among other information.

  5. Congressional Budget Office Agricultural Programs Forecast: https://www.cbo.gov/data/baseline-projections-selected-programs CBO’s periodic forecasts on the expenditures of USDA Mandatory Farm Programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Child Nutrition Programs. For major commodities the agricultural baseline S&D assumptions are included.

  6. Congressional Research Service Reports: https://crsreports.congress.gov/ Especially relevant for agricultural policy matters, but often reports are available on other current topics. And while not technically a data source, their reports often include data that you can then look for from the original source if needed.

  7. Government Accountability Office Reports: https://www.gao.gov/reports-testimonies?f%5B0%5D=by_agency_name%3ADepartment%20of%20Agriculture I’ll be the first to say I don’t agree with every GAO finding, but similarly to the CRS reports, there is often detail on specific current issues that could point to additional data sources.

  8. President’s Budget: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/ Detailed annual information on federal agricultural programs prior spending and program descriptions. There are several different files, so if you don’t find what you need at first, keep looking.

  9. U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis: https://www.bea.gov/data Data on U.S. economic accounts; also includes GDP, consumer spending, prices, and more.

  10. U.S. Census Bureau Trade Data: https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/data/index.html Latest releases of U.S. trade data.

  11. Google Trends: https://trends.google.com/ If you’re trying to understand the recent trajectory of a trend in agriculture, this is an interesting place to look at the frequency of searches for terms.

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---2/16/23

List 3: Eleven Global and International-Focused Data Resources

Here are 11 free data resources to help research global or international agriculture and food questions. This is the third list of eleven sources each in a series of useful data resources for those in the agriculture and food fields. 

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  1. FAOStat: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home Food and Agriculture Organization data timeseries for over 245 countries and territories.\

  2. OECD: https://data.oecd.org/agriculture.htm Agricultural production and policy information databases. Focused on the 38 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries and includes select other countries depending on the dataset.

  3. ​World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/ Extensive global datasets for agricultural, economy, health, environment, and development.

  4. IMF Commodity Prices: https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices One of several datasets of the International Monetary Fund, the commodity prices include monthly primary commodity prices, an interactive commodity data portal, and a database of timeseries for country-specific commodity price indices.

  5. ​Country Department/Ministry of Agriculture Websites: If your interest is in a particular country or region, their government will often have additional agricultural datasets beyond those available in any of the multi-country compiled datasets. There are too many countries to list them all here, but a reminder to check that country if you need something specific. For example, Eurostat for the EU: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database

  6. UNData: http://data.un.org/Explorer.aspx The data platform of the United Nations, with 32 datamarts and 60 million records across a wide range of topics, including the OECD and FAO data and also covering data for energy, environment, and health.

  7. ​WTO Tariff Data: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tariffs_e/tariff_data_e.htm World Trade Organization Tariff  Data, with an interactive download interface and summary tariff profiles by country.  

  8. ​WTO Documents, Data, and Resources: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/wtoapps_e.htm the World Trade Organization’s listing of many other datasets related to trade and trading relationships around the world.

  9. ​USTR Annual Trade Barriers Report: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2024%20NTE%20Report_1.pdf (2024 version) The United States Trade Representative compiles an extensive report of trade barriers annually. Searching by commodity or country makes it very useable.

  10. IFPRI: https://library.ifpri.info/data/ Open data from research by the International Food Policy Research Institute and its partners. Especially useful if looking for detailed, country-specific information that IFPRI has studied.

  11. ​FEWSNet: https://fews.net/ (Not available as of early 2025). The Famine Early Warning System Network provides data on acute and long term famine, but also is a resource of food security information by country and region, with links to agroclimatic information from USGS and NOAA, among others.

 

These are only a quick glance into many data sources available, and as usual, having the data is only one step in understanding what the data means and how it can be used to inform decision-making.

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--2/22/23

List 4: Data and Other Resources for Times of Uncertainty

When times are uncertain, remember, all times are times of uncertainty, sometimes the uncertainty is just more visible and at the forefront. That being said, here are some factors and relevant data sources to consider following for the current times. 

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  1. Understand where and how agricultural products flow to their final destinations: 

  2. Public company annual 10-K filings:

    • This will be a frequently used source for some already, but particularly if you’re looking into a certain area, checking the K-1s of key companies for additional detail on the markets they’re connected to. Often, they have a vast well of data sources they’re using, and/or proprietary information within that market that is informing their commentary.

    • Be aware of the interests of the company when reading this information, and use your discernment on how to interpret what is presented. 

    • https://www.sec.gov/search-filings 

  3. Tariff Trackers: 

  4. Weather: Always changing, and, it’s still good to be aware of for the impacts it may have. Plus, looking at the weather is a good reminder that farmers and agricultural systems are used to unpredictability, especially when it comes to weather.

  5. Consumer Sentiment and Demand: 

  6. Commodity Stocks and Inventories: Most relevant for commodities that can be stored for extended periods (e.g., grains). For more perishable commodities (e.g., meat), this metric is still relevant, but should be interpreted with understanding of perishability.

  7. Agricultural Trade Balance: In this case, what is perhaps most relevant is considering the trade balance relative to threats to the flows of trades that are present in the global geopolitical situation. 

  8. Scenario Planning: Consider the feasible alternatives in the case of worse-than-present scenarios. Find data appropriate to understanding those alternatives. 

  9. Your Own Discernment: I’ve mentioned this before, because it applies to how you use data from various sources as well, but times of uncertainty are good times to cultivate your own discernment. 

    • Use the best information and analysis available, of course. 

    • Understand your own tolerance for risk, and your own balance of risk versus reward. 

    • And, if there is an aspect of agriculture (or any other sector) that is not getting a lot of attention but is concerning or seems to have significant risk to you, build that into your own monitoring of the agricultural situation.

  10. BONUS- Classics to Track: 

    • An EXCELLENT compilation of the Classic agricultural risk indicators and discussion of how to interpret them can be found here: Ifft, J., Parcell, J., & Roach, A. “Leading Indicators of Farm Financial Stress: Winter 2026.” RaFF Policy Brief 2026-1(1), Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri, Jan. 9, 2026. Available at http://www.raff.missouri.edu  

    • Farm bankruptcy filings- https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/reports/statistical-reports/bankruptcy-filings-statistics 

    • Used Equipment Sales data. (Either subscribe to various data providers, or follow secondary reporting on latest reports).

 

And, if you’re in a business related to food and agriculture, and are considering how to navigate, do reach out. I’d be excited to work with folks who are looking to take a radically honest look at things, and to respond with innovation to the moment.

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---1/20/26

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