The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has launched a collection of interactive maps to allow data users to access key Census of Agriculture information.
The newly redesigned Ag Census Web Maps application offers the public access to maps and accompanying data to help visualize, download and analyze ag census data down to the county level, according to a news release. The application assembles maps and statistics from the 2022 Census of Agriculture in five broad categories — crops and plants, economics, farms, livestock and animals, and producers — as well as associated subcategories.
“NASS is excited to provide the public with customizable, interactive and accessible ways to work with the vast trove of Census of Agriculture data,” NASS administrator Joseph Parsons said the release. “The Ag Census Web Maps application allows users to visualize the state of American agriculture in a way no other Census of Agriculture product provides.”
Application users can select a map to display from any of the general categories and associated subcategories; create maps showing the variation in a single data item across the country (for example, average value of agricultural products sold per farm); select a county and view and download the county’s data for a general category; download the U.S. county-level dataset of mapped values for all categories and more, according to the USDA. The resulting products give producers, agribusinesses, policymakers, community planners and the general public access to factors that affect agriculture and producers in more than 3,000 counties across the country.
NASS has also made available on its website a range of new products related to the 2022 ag census: Market Value of Ag Products Rankings; State and County Profiles; Congressional District Profiles and Rankings; the Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Profiles; the Watersheds report; and the American Indian Reservations Report, the release said. In addition, 2022 Puerto Rico Census of Agriculture data was released July 18 and can be viewed on NASS’ ag census web page.
Upcoming ag census releases include the Specialty Crops publication Oct. 17 and Zip Code Tabulations on Nov. 7, the release said. Other products to be released this fall include additional ag census highlights publications found on the NASS website. Census of Agriculture highlights cover topics such as producer demographics, commodity specifics, and more.
Spanning more than 6 million data points about U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them, the full ag census report can be accessed at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. Ag census data can also be found in NASS’s searchable online database, Quick Stats.
In preparation for the 2027 Census of Agriculture, NASS is already asking for content change suggestions and for new producers who did not receive a 2022 Census of Agriculture questionnaire last year to sign up to be counted in future censuses and surveys, the release said. Both forms can be found at nass.usda.gov.
