Operator and Operation Characteristics Maps—2002 Census of Agriculture, Agricultural Atlas of the United States

The Census of Agriculture of the United States is the leading source of facts and statistics about the state of the nation's agriculture. Every five years, it provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches and is the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county or county equivalent in the United States.

Data represents all agricultural operations, which are defined as places that sold or normally would have sold more than $1,000 worth of agricultural products during the census year. Dot distribution and choropleth maps from the 2002 Census of Agriculture, Agricultural Atlas of the United States illustrate various aspects of the nation's agriculture. These 276 maps portray major topics including crops; livestock, farm, and operator characteristics; land use; agricultural chemicals; equipment; and economic themes. All maps were created in batch mode using customized ArcGIS software. The maps are accessible for viewing and printing via a map index and an interactive tree diagram at the Census of Agriculture Web site. The printed version of the 2002 Agricultural Atlas of the United States (publication AC-02-S-1) contains a subset of the Internet maps and is available by calling 800-727-9540.