The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the farmers.gov local dashboard now displays information from all 50 states with farming data and USDA resources available by county. 

All states are now part of the portal, after the recent addition of Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota, and Iowa. The data portal first launched in January 2023 as the farmers.gov dashboard pilot.

Available online, the dashboard lets users choose by state and county to view local farming news from the USDA, including releases from the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service. The portal also includes county-by-county data on cattle markets, commodity prices, weather, and more. 

Why the dashboard was created

The USDA said it created the farmers.gov local dashboard to provide farmer-focused data sets and resources from the USDA and other government agencies in a single place so users can easily access materials to run their farm operation.

They also transformed some of the complex data sets into easy-to-read charts and graph, so users can quickly find and analyze relevant information.

Dashboard features

For each state, the dashboard includes:

• Commodity prices: View daily or weekly commodity prices and trends in prices over time to make data-driven business decisions with data provided by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Corn and soybean data is available for Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota. Corn and wheat pricing is available for Kansas. 
• Weather forecasts: View current and forecasted weather by location, as well as severe weather information to plan and prepare for conditions that may impact operations. Data is supplied from the National Weather Service (NWS).
• Historic climate data: View and analyze historic temperature and precipitation data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
• Past storm events: View past data from the NOAA NCEI storm events database to better understand weather impacts or for reference when applying for crop insurance from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) or USDA disaster assistance programs. 
• USDA service centers: Find local USDA service center contact information to connect with FSA, NRCS, or Rural Development (RD) staff for business needs.
• Additional state resources: View additional resources, like county drought data from the U.S. drought monitor, contact information for beginning farmers and ranchers, and information about state agency offices.

What's next

Over the past year, the USDA said it received and reviewed feedback on expanding and improving the dashboard. Based on responses, they're planning new features and updates to the dashboard. 

Improving the dashboard is an ongoing effort, so continued feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Explore the farmers.gov local dashboard and let the USDA know what you think.

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