USDA and NASA sign MOU to bring Earth observation into crop statistics

The US Department of Agriculture and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding on 24 October 2026. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman agreed to cooperate on integrating Earth observation, geospatial analytics and statistical methods into agricultural statistics. The agreement took effect immediately and supports USDA's Data Modernization Plan, launched in September.

Three areas are listed: regular exchanges to match USDA statistical requirements with NASA Earth science missions and data products; discussions on access to NASA archives through cloud-native geospatial formats and APIs; and joint reviews of algorithms for crop condition, yield, planted and harvested area, and disaster impact. These reviews will cover bias correction, uncertainty quantification and validation with ground data.

Scope also covers remote sensing science, modelling, geospatial data engineering and machine learning. The list is not exhaustive, and the agencies say the partnership dates back further, with new work starting after a December 2025 executive order.

Why it matters: National statistical agencies increasingly rely on satellite data, cloud-native access and validated methods. The focus on bias correction, uncertainty and ground validation is a template that African agricultural statistics and food-security monitoring programmes could draw on.