USDA testing pilot program on texts and email invites for secure online survey reporting

stevanovicigor / Depositphotos.com The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) today announced a program that gives selected agricultural producers a new way to access and complete their surveys online. Participants will receive a survey invitation by text message or email and use multifactor authentication to verify their identity before completing the survey. This effort supports USDA’s Data Modernization goals of making agricultural reporting easier for producers. NASS will assess whether text and email invitations help producers access and complete surveys more easily while protecting the confidentiality of their responses. “Producers have limited time, especially during planting and harvest,” said Joseph Parsons, NASS Administrator. “This program will help us learn whether a text or email invitation makes it easier to complete a survey and where we can improve the sign-in process.” The program will begin in late November with selected producers participating in the December Agricultural Survey. Invitations will identify the survey and provide instructions for signing in. After verifying their identity, participants will submit their responses through the secure online survey portal. Producers can confirm an invitation through agcounts.usda.gov . Producers not selected for the December Agricultural Survey may opt to receive text or email notifications for future surveys. NASS will track how often participants successfully sign in and complete their surveys, where they encounter difficulties, and what they report about the experience. The agency will also use those results to decide whether to expand the pilot and what to improve before taking next steps. USDA news release