Web Tool Allows Users to Access, Evaluate and Visualize Agriculture Data

Oct 28, 2014

App provides information regarding counties, states and agriculture throughout the United States

Farms.com

The AG Census Web Maps application is a tool that can be used to access census information for 3000 counties, as well as their agricultural data. The information provided has the potential to impact almost every factor in agriculture and may influence the livelihoods of non-profits, operators, researchers, planners, ranchers and farmers.

The application provides visualized data regarding the following categories:

•   Crops and Plants – Information specific to harvested acreage on major field crops, forage crops and acreage data regarding orchards.
•   Economics – Information on agriculture sales, production expenses, and amounts received from loans, including government payments.
•   Farms – Data on ownership and their internet access, information on land use, irrigation, fertilized crop land, and programs for crop insurance enrollment.
•   Livestock – Statistics will include information on cows, heifers, cattle, calves as well as other livestock and animals.
•   Operators – information on tenure, rented or leased land, occupation of the farm operator, and demographic characteristics.

Information in these categories may provide insight on future operating costs, land expansion or purchases of additional livestock, crops and plants. It gives farmers and ranchers a tool to strategize and work with the highest quality resources available throughout the US.

The data provided from the application has significant opportunity to promote advancement in agriculture and agricultural communities. Community planning may be better managed and implemented by understanding rural and urban trends. Companies and stores will be able to develop locations where communities are growing. Funding and operational loans used by students, farmers and businesses will be easier to access. The application also makes farm programs and policies easy to access.

The census information gathered is provided by the Census of Agriculture, which gives detailed information on farms, ranches and their operators. Presently, it is the only set of data that provides information for every state and county in the US.

The application presents visualized information on specific user requests, displays and produces county data, and works alongside common software programs, as well as maps applications to analyze and visualize data.

If you’re interested in learning more or experience the application first-hand visit

Ag Census Web Maps

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.