USDA slashes beef export data by 90% after staff cuts spark data crisis

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reduced its reported beef export sales for late June by 90 percent on Thursday, revealing that exporters sold a net 12,064 tonnes to foreign buyers, down from the 126,062 tonnes originally reported a week earlier. Traders had widely dismissed the initial report as inaccurate, citing concerns over data quality following deep staffing losses under the Trump administration's federal government reshaping. The erroneous data, published on July 2, showed 2026 sales surging nearly 500 percent from the previous week, with volumes to some countries exceeding historical records. USDA acknowledged receiving incorrect data. Trust in USDA reports has eroded among traders, analysts, and farmers after the agency significantly underestimated corn acres last year and delayed a quarterly agricultural trade report, excluding findings that linked tariffs to a forecast increase in the agricultural trade deficit, raising questions about objectivity.