NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

What NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE does

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is a federal statistical agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), established to provide timely, accurate, and useful agricultural statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. The agency serves agricultural producers, federal and state agencies, academic researchers, commodity analysts, and the general public by collecting and disseminating data through farmer surveys, the quinquennial Census of Agriculture, and remote sensing. NASS operates under Congressional authority (Title 7 U.S.C.) and is governed by the Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics established in 1962; the agency does not generate commercial revenue and is funded through federal appropriations, with all data products and services provided free of charge to the public.

NASS's technology stack centers on the Quick Stats database — the agency's primary searchable repository — supplemented by Quick Stats Lite (structured query interface), the Census Data Query Tool (CDQT) for 2012 and 2017 Census tables, and a JSON API for programmatic access. Geospatial and remote sensing platforms — including VegScape (NASA-funded satellite vegetation indices), Crop-CASMA (crop condition and soil moisture analytics), CroplandCROS, the Cropland Data Layer, Crop Sequence Boundaries, and Crop Progress & Condition Gridded Layers — provide environmental and land-use analytics. Data files are refreshed on each weekday and distributed through the nass.usda.gov website, downloadable compressed files, the Economics, Statistics, and Market Information System (ESMIS, hosted by the National Agricultural Library), email subscriptions, RSS feeds, and a nationwide network of Regional and State Field Offices covering all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and outlying areas.

The agency's go-to-market is direct-to-public. Producers respond to surveys through agcounts.usda.gov (offering computer-assisted web interviewing and computer-assisted telephone interviewing modes), and data is disseminated via the NASS website and partner channels. Customer segments span farmers and ranchers, USDA and federal agencies, researchers and analysts, and the general public and media, with no paid tiers, contracts, or enterprise sales motion. Outreach is conducted through digital channels (website, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, RSS, email), the USDA Blog, the annual Morris Hansen Lecture, and bi-annual Data Users Meetings co-organized with USDA partner agencies and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Name

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

Legal name

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

Website

https://nass.usda.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is a USDA federal statistical agency that collects and disseminates free agricultural statistics — crop production, livestock inventories, prices, and Census of Agriculture data — to farmers, federal agencies, researchers, and the public across all U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Agricultural Statistics

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

National Statistics & Census Administration (BPAIAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Sensing & Crop Scouting Services (Satellite, Drone Imagery, In‑Field Sensing) (AFACACAA), Farm Data Management & Decision Support Services (FMIS Setup, Data Integration, Analytics) (AFACACAC), Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) & Digital Recordkeeping (AFABAMAD)

Keywords

• Agricultural statistics
• Crop production data
• Farm census
• Livestock reports
• Geospatial crop data

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Data Services: NASS is a U.S. federal government statistical agency operating under USDA. All data products and services are provided free of charge to the public as part of the agency's mission to provide timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. The agency is funded through federal appropriations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

NASS is the official U.S. federal statistical agency for agriculture, conducting hundreds of surveys each year and the quinquennial Census of Agriculture to produce authoritative estimates on crop production, livestock inventories, prices, and farm demographics. All outputs are provided free of charge to the public through web-based databases (Quick Stats, CDQT), geospatial platforms (VegScape, Cropland Data Layer, Crop-CASMA, CroplandCROS), and standardized reports. NASS data is mandatory-reporting based and is the official benchmark for U.S. agricultural statistics.

Product overview

NASS provides a comprehensive suite of agricultural data products centered around the Quick Stats database system, which serves as the primary platform for accessing and querying agricultural statistics. The product portfolio includes the full-featured Quick Stats database, the simplified Quick Stats Lite interface, and the Census Data Query Tool for historical census data. Supporting tools include data visualization and mapping applications, remote sensing platforms (VegScape, Crop-CASMA, CroplandCROS), and geospatial products for crop monitoring and analysis. The Census of Agriculture program provides periodic comprehensive agricultural census data every five years. Data is accessible through multiple channels including the web interface, Quick Stats API, downloadable JSON files, and compressed data file downloads, with an online survey response platform (agcounts.usda.gov) enabling producers to submit survey data electronically.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Quick Stats: The most comprehensive tool for accessing agricultural data published by NASS, allowing users to customize queries by commodity, location, or time period.
• Quick Stats Lite
• Census Data Query Tool (CDQT)
• CroplandCROS
• VegScape
• Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics (Crop-CASMA)
• agcounts.usda.gov

Products and services

• Quick Stats

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• World Agricultural Outlook BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on updating data users on statistical programs important to agriculture and seeking input on these programs.
• Farm Service AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on agricultural statistical programs and data dissemination.
• Economic Research ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on agricultural economic statistics and research programs.
• Agricultural Marketing ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on market-related agricultural statistics.
• Foreign Agricultural ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on international agricultural trade statistics.
• U.S. Census BureaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the bi-annual Data Users Meetings along with other USDA agencies. Collaborates on census methodology and demographic data related to agriculture.
• National Agricultural LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Economics, Statistics, and Market Information System (ESMIS) which provides website and email subscription service for NASS reports and data.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Statistics Canada: Canadian national statistical agency that publishes Census of Agriculture and recurring agricultural statistics comparable to NASS. Operates the same fundamental model of government statistical delivery for agriculture in a different jurisdiction.
• Eurostat: EU statistical office producing harmonized agricultural statistics across member states. Comparable to NASS in mandate and methodology, but serves a multi-country rather than single-country agricultural sector.

Emerging players

• Bayer Climate FieldView: Bayer-owned digital agriculture platform collecting farm-level data at scale and offering analytics and decision support. Comparable to NASS in agricultural data aggregation but focused on farm operations data and private commercial analytics.
• Gro Intelligence: AI-driven agricultural data and analytics platform providing global agricultural intelligence. Comparable to NASS in agricultural data aggregation but uses commercial data and forecasting models to serve enterprise customers worldwide.

Direct peers

• USDA Economic Research Service: Sister USDA agency that co-organizes Data Users Meetings with NASS and produces agricultural economic research and statistics. Both serve overlapping federal user bases with complementary analytical and statistical products.
• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service: Sister USDA agency producing international agricultural trade statistics and global market data. Directly collaborates with NASS on data dissemination and user outreach, serving a similar federal audience with global rather than domestic agricultural statistics.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Census Bureau: Partner federal statistical agency that collaborates with NASS on census methodology and demographic agriculture data. Operates the broader U.S. federal statistical infrastructure encompassing population, economic, and agriculture censuses.
• DTN: Private agricultural data, weather, and market intelligence provider serving farmers, agribusiness, and traders. Comparable to NASS in agricultural data aggregation but commercial, with proprietary market data and decision-support tools layered on top of public sources.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights: Commercial provider of agricultural commodity data, market intelligence, and forecasting. Overlaps with NASS in agricultural market data delivery but operates as a paid commercial service with proprietary forecasts and analytics.
• FAO Statistics Division: UN Food and Agriculture Organization unit producing global agricultural statistics, including FAOSTAT, crop and livestock data worldwide. Operates the same government-statistics model as NASS but at a global rather than national scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/usda_nass
• YouTubeyoutube.com/usdanass
• Facebookfacebook.com/USDA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-agricultural-statistics-service

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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