County-Level Herbicide Use Estimates for 20 Common Chemicals in the US

Estimates of herbicide use for the twenty-first through the fortieth most-used herbicides in the conterminous United States are provided by Gianessi and Puffer (1991). The dataset reports acres treated, pounds of active ingredient used, and pounds used per square mile for each county, aggregated from use on all crops. Cropping data originates from the 1987 Census of Agriculture.

Use Cases

• Analyze regional herbicide application intensity by comparing pounds used per square mile across different counties.
• Map relative rates of herbicide use by visualizing acres treated or pounds of active ingredient applied per county polygon.
• Study historical trends in agricultural chemical use by examining totals of use on all crops treated in a given county.
• Assess the prevalence of specific herbicides by comparing estimates for the twenty-first through the fortieth most-used chemicals.

Strengths

• Provides three distinct metrics per county: acres treated, pounds of active ingredient used, and pounds used per square mile.
• Data covers the entire conterminous United States at the county level.
• Polygon boundaries are derived from a standardized 1:2,000,000-scale national map source.

Limitations

• Data is based on 1987 Census of Agriculture figures, making it historically stale and not reflective of current practices.
• County-level acreage estimates are subject to suppressions due to confidentiality and census disclosure rules, introducing gaps.
• Estimates are limited to the twenty-first through the fortieth most-used herbicides, excluding the top 20 most common chemicals.

Provenance

Source

Gianessi and Puffer (1991), using data from the 1987 Census of Agriculture.

Collection Method

Estimates derived from reported acres treated and pounds of active ingredient applied for crops in each county.

Time Range

Based on 1987 agricultural census data.

Geography

Conterminous United States (county-level).