Updated April 2026 · USDA NASS QuickStats
Blog
Deep dives into U.S. agricultural data — crop production, state-level specialization, yield trends, and the economics behind the rows of corn and soybean fields. Every article grounded in USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service data and supporting USDA Economic Research Service reports.
What You Will Find Here
CropReview's blog publishes one specific kind of article: a data piece that takes a single question — “Which states grow the most corn?”, “How concentrated is U.S. soybean production?”, “What does a normal hay yield look like in Wisconsin?” — and answers it with charts, tables, and direct citations to the underlying USDA datasets. We do not publish opinion pieces or speculative trade calls. We publish the numbers and the context that makes the numbers legible.
The data foundation is the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, which is the federal agency responsible for U.S. crop production statistics. For trade context we lean on the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, especially its production, supply, and distribution database for global commodity flows. For supply-and-demand framing we cite the USDA Economic Research Service and its commodity outlook reports.
Why a Site About Crop Data?
The U.S. agricultural sector is a $400+ billion industry and one of the most data-rich segments of the economy, but the underlying USDA datasets are notoriously hard to navigate. NASS QuickStats is a powerful tool for researchers but a frustrating one for casual users; FAS and ERS reports are written for policy specialists, not the public. CropReview translates those datasets into ranked tables, plain-language summaries, and one-screen comparisons — without sacrificing source attribution. Every page is reproducible from the original USDA data.
How These Articles Are Structured
Each article opens with a one-line answer to a specific question and then walks through the data. Tables show the actual production volumes, acreages, and yields between dated periods; charts trace state and crop trends over the years that NASS data is available; and every article ends with a citation block naming the specific USDA datasets used. This structure is intentional: the articles should hold up as research, not just as reading.
All Articles
Why Corn Dominates American Agriculture
U.S. corn production exceeds 14 billion bushels in most recent years. The state-by-state distribution explains why corn shapes everything from animal feed to fuel policy.
7 minSoybean State Rankings: What USDA NASS Data Reveals
Soybeans are the second-largest U.S. row crop by acreage and the most exported. The state ranking reveals the export-driven nature of U.S. soybean agriculture.
7 minWhy Wheat Acres Keep Shrinking
U.S. wheat planted acres have declined from over 80 million in the early 1980s to around 45 million today. The structural drivers explain why.
7 minReading USDA Quick Stats: A Non-Economist’s Guide
USDA NASS Quick Stats is the official source of U.S. agricultural data. This guide walks through how to read it without an ag-econ background.
7 minThe Shape of the U.S. Farm Economy in 2026
U.S. farm cash receipts, net farm income, and the state-by-state distribution as the 2026 production year takes shape.
7 minRelated Pages on This Site
Pair the upcoming articles with the live datasets that power them. The crops index ranks every tracked U.S. crop by total acreage and production. The states index shows agricultural production state by state, with the leading crops in each. The trends page surfaces the biggest movers and most concentrated commodities in the current dataset. And the methodology documents exactly how the numbers are pulled from USDA NASS, the field definitions used, and the known limitations of the data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CropReview write about?
The blog focuses on three topics: how the major U.S. crops compare in production volume and acreage, what state-level agricultural data shows about regional specialization, and how USDA datasets translate into plain-language analysis for farmers, researchers, commodity traders, and policymakers. Every article is grounded in USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) data and reproducible from the underlying public-domain sources.
Where do the numbers in these articles come from?
The primary source is the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service QuickStats API, which publishes county- and state-level crop production, acreage, and yield data. Trade context comes from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. Commodity supply analysis uses the USDA Economic Research Service. Every article names the specific dataset it is using and links to the relevant USDA program page.
How often are articles published?
CropReview is in its launch phase. New articles will appear as our agricultural dataset grows beyond its initial 10 crops and 35 states, with priority given to coverage updates when USDA publishes a new annual NASS release.
Are these articles updated when USDA data changes?
USDA NASS publishes new annual crop production data once per year, with major updates following each growing season. When a published article references a specific dollar value or production figure, that figure reflects the NASS data available at the article's publication date. The live crop and state pages on this site are refreshed when NASS releases new data; the most recent dataset reflects USDA NASS data through April 2026.
Can I cite these articles as a research source?
Yes. The underlying USDA data is U.S. government public domain. Cite the original USDA NASS, USDA FAS, or USDA ERS source for raw production and trade numbers; cite CropReview for our derived rankings, state-by-state breakdowns, and combined crop comparisons. Each article ends with a citation block listing the primary sources.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (public domain). Supplementary trade data from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and supply analysis from the USDA Economic Research Service. Read the full methodology.
Last updated 2026-04-11 · 10 crops and 35 states tracked.