USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, or NASS, now offers an online tool for data. The tool allows for rapid access to Census of Agriculture maps and data about farms in more than 3,000 counties across the United States. The web maps will “give farmers, ranchers, researchers, planners, non-profits, and industry easy access to important data that impact nearly every aspect of agriculture,” according to NASS administrator Joseph T. Reilly. The interactive maps allow users to navigate to an area and print and display that exact area’s data. It provided users a way to visualize and analyze the 2012 Census of Agriculture data. Anyone can access and use the Ag Census Web Maps. Find the new maps online at ag census dot usda dot gov. (https://www.agcensus.usda.gov)
NASS developed the application in collaboration with USDA’s Economic Research Service. Information about harvested acreage, agricultural sales, enrollment in crop insurance programs, natural resources use, statistics on cattle, demographics about farmers and ranchers, and more can be visualized and analyzed using the Ag Census Web Maps application.