Data can support the case for farmland protection at the local, state or national level. Search here for national, state and county mapping tools, data and statistics.
Data and Statistics
Census of Agriculture
The Census of Agriculture is the most comprehensive source of data portraying our nation’s agriculture over time. The census is conducted every five years by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). On April 11, 2019, NASS released the 2017 Census of Agriculture. New Census data is expected to be released in 2024.
Census of AgricultureFarms Under Threat
Explore data from AFT’s Farms Under Threat initiative, a multi-year initiative to assess the loss of U.S. farmland and ranchland. Through reports and data analysis, AFT documents the threats and offers policy solutions to ensure the long-term protection and conservation of agricultural land in the United States to sustain an expanding population and protect biodiversity.
Farms Under ThreatNational Resources Inventory
The National Resources Inventory (NRI) program collects and produces scientifically credible information on the status, condition, and trends of land, soil, water, and related resources on the Nation’s non-federal lands in support of efforts to protect, restore, and enhance the lands and waters of the United States.
2017 National Resources InventoryPurchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement Programs
Purchase of agricultural conservation easement (PACE) programs compensate property owners for restricting the future use of their land. PACE is known as Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) in many locations. The Farmland Information Center conducts an annual survey of State PACE programs and tracks their activity.
Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement ProgramsProtected Agricultural Lands Database
The Protected Agricultural Lands Database (PALD) is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive national inventory of spatial data about protected agricultural lands. It contains boundaries of easements that permanently protect private farmland and ranchland in the U.S. as well as important information about each site. This database was compiled by the American Farmland Trust GIS Team as a complement to data gathered through surveys by AFT’s Farmland Information Center of state and local Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements (PACE) programs and land trusts that protect agricultural land for agriculture
Protected Agricultural Lands DatabaseTenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land
The Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey is a study of agricultural landowners—including non-operator landlords—conducted by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS). The survey provides data about land ownership, income, expenses, debt, assets, landlord characteristics, and agricultural landowners’ land transfer plans.
Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural LandOther Data Resources
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