Mark your calendars: in less than one hundred days, history is being made in the agriculture industry. In the recently signed FY 2021 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Congress set a deadline of April 26th, 2021 for the USDA to implement Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI) technology. ACRSI technology will enable farmers, insurance agencies and service providers to send planting data electronically to the USDA.
Say goodbye to the days of stacks of paper maps and a handful of pens. Starting April 26th, a new era for agriculture begins.
A “Why Not?” Moment
During his 1968 Presidential bid, Robert Kennedy was fond of paraphrasing that line by the Irish playwright.
This famous line was echoed by incoming Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack during his confirmation hearing earlier this month when he spoke of the “why not” opportunities in front of the USDA. Whether it is a commitment to greener, climate saving policies or tackling the nation’s issues with food insecurity, the USDA has the ability to make a brighter and better future possible in rural America. The question is, then, why not?
Electronic reporting is the first of many “why not” moments for the USDA, and MyAgData has been happy to support the department all along the way. Over the last five years, we have been committed to providing the USDA with the technology and data to successfully implement electronic reporting. We want to free growers from the burden of clumsy paperwork, redundant reporting and inaccurate data.
What ACRSI Means For You
Implementing electronic acreage reporting is a huge move by the USDA, with implications that touch every corner of the agriculture industry. For farmers, it’s about more than just reclaiming the hours each year spent at the FSA office filling out cumbersome paperwork, then having to fill out the same data for your crop insurance agent.
Having access to cutting edge electronic reporting tools and being able to transmit data from the field straight to the USDA means increased accuracy and big savings. In fact, results from two pilot studies found that the use of MyAgData has the potential to save the USDA, famers and the crop insurance industry almost $½ billion annually.
Precision data also translates into peace of mind for lenders. By providing quick, accurate data straight from the combine, lenders are able to reduce their risk. How? By being able to pin-point any potential issues before they become a costly problem. And for insurance agents, electronic reporting means no more paper maps or manual data entry, and more time for customer service.
Whether you’re a farmer, a lender or a service provider, April 26th is going to be a new era for the agriculture industry.
Are you ready?
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