generated: '2026-09-06'
method: searched
source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/developer/data-apis/arms-data-api/updates-and-revisions
provider: Economic Research Service
providerId: economic-research-service
api: USDA ERS Data APIs
description: >-
  ERS maintains a dated "Updates and Revisions" page for the ARMS Data API. It is a real
  changelog - it records both data refreshes and, in at least one entry, a breaking change to
  the response shape - but it is human-readable HTML only, has no feed, no version numbers and
  no per-entry anchors, and the most recent entry on it is from December 2024. The geospatial
  services have no changelog of any kind; their currency is expressed only as a "most current
  release date" column in the service table on the Geospatial APIs page.
scheme: none
scheme_note: >-
  There is no version identifier anywhere in the ARMS API - no path segment, no header, no
  query parameter, no version field in the response. Changes are announced only by date on the
  updates page. Consumers are identified by their api.data.gov key and, per ERS, "API keys
  provide a means to notify users of changes in the APIs" - so the notification channel is
  email to key holders, not the contract.
current_version: null
feed: null
last_entry: '2024-12-18'
staleness_note: >-
  Read 2026-09-06: the newest entry is 2024-12-18, and the page itself carries an "Updated:
  1/6/2025" stamp. ARMS is an annual survey, so a yearly cadence is expected, but there is no
  entry for the 2025 or 2026 release cycles.
entries:
  - date: '2024-12-18'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: Database update containing new data from 2023 and additional data from prior years.
  - date: '2024-09-06'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: Database update containing revised data for 2022.
  - date: '2023-12-14'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: Database update containing new data for 2022 and additional data for prior years.
  - date: '2022-12-15'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: New data for 2021 plus updates and revisions to historical data for 2019 and 2020.
  - date: '2021-12-16'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: New data for 2020 plus updates and revisions to historical data for 1996-2019.
  - date: '2020-12-18'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: New data for 2019 plus updates and revisions to historical data for 1996-2018.
  - date: '2019-12-10'
    breaking: false
    type: data
    highlights: New data for 2018, new variables, and updates and revisions to historical data.
  - date: '2019-08-29'
    breaking: true
    type: contract
    highlights: >-
      Response-shape change. The "searching" and "formatting" properties were REMOVED from the
      "info" section of every API query result. Additive in the same release: a "description"
      property on each category record, a "desc" property on each report record, a "desc"
      property on each farmtype record, and a "decimal_display" property on each survey data
      record indicating how many decimals to display.
    removals:
      - info.searching
      - info.formatting
    additions:
      - category.description
      - report.desc
      - farmtype.desc
      - surveydata.decimal_display
    note: >-
      This removal shipped with no version bump, no deprecation window and no Sunset header -
      the only notice is this dated line. It is the clearest evidence in the record of how ERS
      handles a breaking change.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com