One of the components of the USDA One Farmer One File Initiative is the modernization of acreage reporting. SDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce told the Red River Farm Network the first phase replaces paper maps and office visits with an interactive digital mapping system. “We’re going to be able to report acres on a geospatial digital map,” said Fordyce. “The farmer clicks on the field, selects the crop code, enters the planting date on a calendar, and when that’s done, the farm is reported. There’s no passing maps across the counter for another round of data entry.” Future phases will further streamline the process. Phase Two will allow producers to report acreage from their smartphones. By 2028, Phase Three is expected to let farmers authorize precision agriculture data to automatically populate acreage reports. North Dakota is one of just two states where every county is using the streamlined reporting system. Listen to the full interview.
