Six Senate Democrats have written to the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding clarification on a series of data errors and staffing reductions that they say risk undermining market confidence and trade relations.
The letter, sent late Wednesday by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and five colleagues, was addressed to Michelle Bekkering, USDA Deputy Under Secretary, and cited multiple instances of revised agricultural data in recent months. The most notable was a nearly 500% surge in weekly U.S. beef export sales reported by the USDA in July, which was later revised downward by 90% after officials described it as an isolated processing issue.
The Democrats also highlighted unexpected revisions to U.S. corn acreage data issued earlier this year, prompting an internal review by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. A separate report on the agricultural trade deficit was delayed last summer and did not include findings that tariffs could worsen the deficit, according to the lawmakers.
The errors occurred against a backdrop of soaring beef prices, plant closures by meat packers, and the smallest U.S. cattle herd in decades. Traders and analysts had questioned the beef export data, noting that reported sales to certain countries exceeded their historical purchases from the U.S. by several times.
In their letter, the senators emphasized the potential market and trade implications of such inaccuracies. They warned that an erosion of trust in USDA data could damage domestic markets and U.S. relationships with trading partners. The letter was dated August 19, 2026, and published on August 20, 2026.
