Issued Aug. 8, 2008 by the Agricultural Statistics Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. For more information contact Lance Honig at (202) 720-4857 or lance_honig@nass.usda.gov.

The Aug. 12 Crop Production report will contain the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) first estimates of 2008 corn and soybean yield and production. To help ensure that these estimates are based on the best information available, NASS supplemented its standard data collection activities in order to account for the impact of the flooding that occurred in the Midwest in June.

NASS personnel re-interviewed approximately 9,000 farmers in flood-affected areas who had previously reported their planted acreage to the agency in early June, prior to the majority of the flooding. These re-interviews were conducted in mid-July, allowing time for flooded fields to dry and for farmers to fully assess their 2008 cropping options. Additionally, NASS increased the number of corn and soybean fields selected for objective field measurements in the flood-affected areas. The agency also increased the sample size for the Agricultural Yield Survey, through which farmers report expected crop yields.

The Crop Production report will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 12. It will be available online at www.nass.usda.gov.