NASA Earthdata hosts a GIS dataset containing county-level estimates of land in agricultural production for the conterminous United States. The data originates from the 1987 Census of Agriculture, with some information from the 1982 census, and was processed into ARC/INFO coverage attributes. County boundaries and non-land features were derived from the 1:2,000,000-scale Digital Line Graph files of the National Atlas.
Use Cases
- Estimating regional land in agricultural production based on county-level acreage or percentage data.
- Producing visual displays and maps of relative agricultural land use across the United States.
- Analyzing changes in agricultural land use by comparing 1987 census data with included 1982 information.
Strengths
- Data is sourced from the authoritative 1987 Census of Agriculture conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- County boundaries are derived from the standardized 1:2,000,000-scale National Atlas Digital Line Graph files.
- Estimates include data reported as numbers (e.g., farms), acres, or percentages of county area.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- U.S. Department of Commerce, Census of Agriculture (1989a)
- Collection Method
- Estimates generated from surveys of all farms where $1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold during the census year, processed via automated ARC/INFO procedures.
- Time Range
- Primarily 1987, with some information from 1982.
- Geography
- Conterminous United States (county-level)