LUBBOCK, TX June 8, 2010 by Roger Haldenby
Every month I do my best to send out in a timely fashion, cotton
related extracts from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand
Estimates and Crop Production Reports put out by USDA's National Ag
Statistics Service.
But have you ever considered what goes into the process that brings
those numbers to us each month?
Since a scandal back in 1905 when a USDA statistician leaked cotton
acreage information to a New York cotton trader the state and
national statistical information gathered by USDA has been carefully
guarded by a process termed "Lockup" until it's released to the
public.
In 2007, Farm Journal writer Roger Bernard penned an article, "Under
Lock and Key" that took an up-close look at the meticulous steps
taken to protect the report numbers that drive market prices around
the world.
You can read his article at:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2007/UnderLockKey_reprint.pdf
It will give you insight into a process that is now in its 106th
year. The process continues Wednesday night of this week as USDA
statisticians, the Agricultural Statistics Board, the World
Agricultural Outlook Board, the Interagency Commodity Estimates
Committee and others work on the data that will be released in
reports Thursday morning June 11th at 8:30 AM EDT (7:30 Central).
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PCG Email Services - Roger Haldenby, Editor - haldenby@plainscotton.org
Plains Cotton Growers Inc.
4517 W. Loop 289, Lubbock TX 79414
Phone (806) 792-4904