Washington, D.C., May 1, 2018 – AgGateway and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have forged an agreement to work together on data projects to benefit American farmers in the transition to digital agriculture. The current agreement will consist of a series of efforts over the next 20 months; all results of the collaboration will be made publicly available.
Specifically, the collaboration is designed to provide both parties with the opportunity to better serve the American farmer by: 1) Aligning USDA and AgGateway data elements and data standards; and 2) Developing procedures within the USDA that align with the use of precision ag technology and data used by producers and agri-businesses.
“We are excited by this collaboration and what it means for data standardization in American agriculture,” said AgGateway President and CEO Wendy Smith. “AgGateway and USDA began meeting two years ago to discuss the importance of consistent data standards as the agriculture industry increasingly relies on accurate, timely data to maximize productivity and efficiency.”
“This is a very important area for the American farmer, so we’re pleased to be moving forward in these work areas,” added Bobby Jones, USDA Chief Data Officer. Jones noted that the project aligns with the President Management Agenda, Cross Agency Priority Goal 2, Data, Accountability and Transparency – Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset, and it amplifies Strategy 4: Commercialization, Innovation, and Public Use of the Federal Data Strategy.
AgGateway members and USDA information technology experts will cover a number of work areas, including refining the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) agriculture domain published data elements and standards; establishing application programming interface (API) standards; establishing USDA open data standards (data.gov); incorporating USDA terms and definitions into AgGateway’s AgGlossary; beginning work to establish standards and guidelines for field/part-field identification purposes; and data interchange format development for direct reporting of crop, acreage, acreage location and production.
Updates will be regularly reported in AgGateway news to the industry and at AgGateway meetings, including the upcoming Mid-Year Meeting in Altoona, Iowa, June 11-14. More on AgGateway activities, including how to become involved, can be found at www.AgGateway.org.
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AgGateway is a non-profit organization dedicated to the expanded use of information to maximize efficiency and productivity, promoting and enabling the industry's transition to digital agriculture. www.AgGateway.org.
Contact:
Susan Ruland AgGateway +1 (202) 742-5967, ext. 10 susan.ruland@AgGateway.org