The Map Shop

Delivering data to empower, support, and equip stakeholders

Soon after AFT was founded in 1980, we started using geospatial data to identify areas where development pressure could lead to the loss of high-quality agricultural land. These early maps raised public awareness and triggered both farmland protection plans and policies. Over time, improvements in national datasets combined with advances in spatial modeling techniques have increased the accuracy and resolution of AFT’s agricultural land mapping. We can now track and quantify where development is spreading into farmland.

AFT’s Farms Under Threat Analyses

The Farms Under Threat analyses track past conversion, project future conversion, rate the quality of the land for long-term cultivation, map permanently protected farmland and ranchland, and explore the role agricultural lands play in providing wildlife habitat and delivering ecosystem services. Since most states do not monitor farmland conversion, our high-resolution geospatial data can help fill the gap.

We have just released a Farms Under Threat data dashboard so users can more easily explore our Farms Under Threat: State of the States data and an AFT Raster Atlas that users can use to make their own maps from our data. Plan to watch this page for more AFT GIS analyses and maps from our new Map Shop.

In the meantime, the Farms Under Threat maps, data, web mapping tools, and reports are available in AFT’s Farmland Information Center and include:

Farms Under Threat: The State of the States

Our Farms Under Threat: The State of the States analysis tracks and quantifies farmland conversion between 2001 and 2016. The accompanying Agricultural Land Protection Scorecard provides a state-by-state analysis of policies and programs that protect farmland, support agricultural viability, and provide access to land. The interactive website includes a data request form.

Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future

The Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future analysis projects how future development and climate change affect farmland under different development scenarios between 2016 to 2040 to help users explore alternatives in development choices. The interactive website includes a data request form.

Farms Under Threat 2040: Solar Modeling Reports

The Farms Under Threat 2040: Solar Modeling Reports project the placement of utility solar installations on agricultural lands to 2040 in the context of the many research efforts that seek to minimize the impacts of these installations on farmlands and ranchlands.

Protected Agricultural Lands Database

Our Protected Agricultural Lands Database is a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive national inventory of spatial data showing protected farmland and ranchland in the U.S. The PALD includes easement boundaries as well as information about each site. Users can request the geospatial data and submit additions to the database.

Analyzing the Conservation Benefits of USDA NRCS Agricultural Land Easements

Our report, Analyzing the Conservation Benefits of USDA NRCS Agricultural Land Easements, uses geospatial analyses to assess a selection of critical conservation benefits for about 89% of the NRCS agricultural land easements in the contiguous U.S. (5,488 easements covering over 1.7 million acres).

Mapping Connectivity and Conservation Opportunity on Agricultural Lands Across the Conterminous United States: A Species-agnostic Approach

Mapping Connectivity and Conservation Opportunity on Agricultural Lands Across the Conterminous United States: A Species-agnostic Approach models the movement of wildlife across farmland and ranchland and shows the potential for these lands to provide important movement routes through otherwise heavily modified landscapes.

The Role of U.S. Agricultural Lands in Supporting Avian Species Connectivity

The Role of U.S. Agricultural Lands in Supporting Avian Species Connectivity models effects of agriculture on habitat suitability and functional connectivity for the greater sage grouse, the American black duck, and the bobolink.