USDA to launch AI tool to check crop production data after errors

The US Department of Agriculture will use an AI tool to check data in its crop production report due on 10 November. The move follows errors in its September corn estimates that damaged confidence in the agency’s forecasts, which can influence agricultural markets.

The September correction raised Nebraska’s corn yield estimate by about 3 per cent and lowered Kansas’s by about 2 per cent. USDA officials said a computer file had combined irrigated and non-irrigated acreage data; the new tool is intended to flag anomalies as an additional check, not replace existing validation. The agency has also faced criticism over past acreage estimates and beef export data, while analysts have questioned a recent soy processing report.