United States Department of Agriculture

About NASS

Director, Census and Survey Division

Dr. Jody McDaniel

Dr. Jody McDaniel is the director of the Census and Survey Division, where he provides leadership and oversight for sustaining the highest quality of census and survey data collection processes at the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

McDaniel previously served as the director for Eastern Field Operations. He led the budget, personnel activities, and program implementation in six regional field offices covering 28 states. His professional experiences include leading national programs, strategic planning, and process improvement to support the NASS mission.

He also served as the chief of NASS's Environmental, Economics, and Demographics Branch, where he led the release of the 2017 Census of Agriculture, served as a member of the North American Tripartite Committee on Agricultural Statistics, and partnered across the Department of Agriculture to improve the customer experience for agricultural producers. Before his role as chief, McDaniel served NASS for 20 years in various capacities.

McDaniel grew up on a small row crop farm in Southeastern Illinois. He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in Agribusiness Economics from Southern Illinois University and a Doctor of Public Administration from Walden University. He and his husband live in Maryland and have two children.