U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service—Geospatial Products and Data

Land Use Stratification Maps

Land use stratification maps are produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA/NASS) and depict agricultural land use within a state for statistical sampling purposes. Image analysts at NASS use satellite imagery, topographic data, and agriculture surveys as data sources for stratifying the land. The stratification process divides land into broad categories—cultivated land, natural vegetation, urban areas, nonagricultural land, and large bodies of water. The cultivated land is further subdivided and categorized by the intensity of agricultural activity, which is represented as a percentage of cultivation. Stratification maps and shapefiles are accessible here.

Annual County-Level Crop Acreage and Yield Maps

The NASS County Estimates program annually collects crop acreage and yield data through cooperative agreements with each state by mailing surveys to a large sample of farm operators. The county crop acreage and yield estimates are assembled starting with the state estimate and working back to the county-level estimates. The county-level estimates are published on the Internet for each USDA state statistical office. The county-level estimates of crop acreage and yield are used to develop choropleth maps for NASS. The maps are available for public access on the USDA/NASS Web site here.

Agricultural Atlas of the United States

Choropleth dot distribution maps from the 1997 Census of Agriculture, Agricultural Atlas of the United States illustrate various aspects of the nation’s agriculture. The maps portray major topics from the U.S. 1997 Census of Agriculture including crops, livestock, farm and operator characteristics, land use, agricultural chemicals and equipment, and economic themes. Atlas maps of the U.S. 2002 Census of Agriculture will be available to the public on the USDA/NASS Web site in 2004. The 1997 agricultural atlas maps are here.