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NASA USDA agreement: space agency data to help track crops, yields and drought in the US

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NASA and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation in Earth observation and data technology, NASA said on 26 October 2026, describing the NASA USDA agreement as support for USDA’s plan to modernise farm data.

NASA USDA agreement: US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins (left) and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman sign the memorandum of understanding in Tuscaloosa
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins (left) and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman sign the memorandum of understanding in Tuscaloosa Photo: NASA (public domain).

Who signed the NASA USDA agreement

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed the agreement on Saturday, 24 October, during NASA’s Inspiration Tour at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It expands cooperation in Earth observation, geospatial analytics and advanced data technologies. “By combining NASA’s Earth observation data and technical expertise with USDA’s knowledge of American agriculture, we can improve the information available to farmers and ranchers, strengthen our understanding of crop conditions and natural hazards,” Mr Isaacman said. He said NASA should put its sensing, computing and analytical tools “to work wherever they can deliver meaningful outcomes for the American people”. The agency said the long partnership between the two bodies has supported joint research and data sharing, and the new pact focuses on better data integration and coordination.

Key Facts

  • Signatories: Jared Isaacman (NASA) and Brooke Rollins (USDA)
  • Signed: 24 October 2026, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  • Type: memorandum of understanding
  • Areas: Earth observation, geospatial analytics, data systems
  • Goals: crop monitoring, yield estimates, drought assessment

“American farmers are the best in the world and deserve any solution we can leverage, even when it is out of this world.”

— Brooke Rollins, US Secretary of Agriculture

Crop monitoring, yields and drought

Under the agreement, the agencies can explore work in agricultural statistics, remote sensing science, modelling, geospatial data engineering and “super intelligence”, NASA said. They will look at how to better match Earth observation data and analysis tools to farm needs, to improve crop monitoring, acreage and yield estimates, and assessments of drought and other disasters. The agencies will also examine new ways of managing and analysing large datasets, strengthening USDA’s data systems while giving farmers, ranchers and policymakers more timely and reliable information. NASA said the work could include “high-risk, high-reward ideas” that advance both science and US competitiveness.

What the US agriculture secretary said

“American farmers are the best in the world and deserve any solution we can leverage, even when it is out of this world,” Ms Rollins said. She said USDA will work with Mr Isaacman and NASA to use technology, research and development to strengthen US agriculture, and that the partnership would improve USDA acreage and yield estimates and help farm profitability. “With this unprecedented partnership the Trump Administration is committing to a bright future of research and tech opportunities,” she said. The announcement did not include a budget figure or a timeline for specific projects. Satellite data is already widely used to track crop health, soil moisture and drought from space, and the agreement is aimed at making such information easier for agricultural agencies to use in their estimates.

Why It Matters: Better satellite-based crop and drought estimates in the US can affect global food prices and offers a model for using space data in farming elsewhere, including India.

Also on TrendDesh: NASA POWER data to help Virginia plan its energy system under new Langley agreement · NASA GRACE map shows groundwater in northern India falling faster than earlier estimates

Source: NASA news release, 26 Oct 2026 · USDA

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