For more than 100 years, USDA Market News has been used by agricultural producers to get timely, unbiased data from Market News reporters across the country. Farmers, ranchers, and the entire agricultural supply chain turn to USDA Market News – administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) – for data that serves as the information lifeline for America’s agricultural economy. Now, Market News is entering a new phase, deploying the Market Analysis & Reporting Services (MARS).

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service captures data for many commodities, including eggs, cotton, local and regional foods, dairy, livestock and grain. (Photo: David McNew/Thinkstock)

MARS was formally unveiled during the recent USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. It includes the ability to capture livestock auctions for commodities like feeder cattle and will eventually include more than 600 commodities in real time (where applicable), and moves reporter’s data capture from the paper age to a connected digital age. That means a reporter at a livestock auction in, for example, Kansas will know in real time what comparable feeder cattle is selling for at an auction in Texas.

Market News communicates up-to-date, unbiased market data to facilitate efficient marketing in ag markets here in the United States and around the world.  This new system reflects advances in data management, improves market transparency, reduces information disadvantage that may exist between buyers and sellers, and continues USDA’s 100 year commitment to use experienced reporters to gather, analyze, and provide unbiased data through cooperative relationships and observation of different points within the agricultural supply chain.

To remain competitive in today’s market, industry stakeholders need and demand better market coverage, smarter information and faster access. MARS makes Market News more flexible in a rapidly evolving digital market. It also makes qualitative data available in a searchable database.  Plus, it opens the door to providing content that is defined by the public and supplements data with statistics.

Learn more

AMS will be hosting a series of interactive webinars to provide more information on MARS and gather feedback on the public facing side of MARS. The first of these webinars is Thursday, March 24, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Eastern.  Visit http://www.ams.usda.gov/calendar for more event details.

Source: USDA AMS