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