Agricultural Land Use

WSDA has developed an agricultural land use geodatabase to assess agricultural production in Washington State. The geodatabase can store, query, and manipulate geographic information and spatial data used to identify agriculture land use in the state. 

WSDA specialists map and inventory crop acreage in Washington on a regular basis. This land use data is obtained through windshield surveys, producers, aerial and satellite imagery, USDA NASS Cropland Data Layer (CDL)  and other sources to identify agricultural land use. WSDA also tracks land that has been taken out of agricultural production.

WSDA crop data is classified by several categories: 1) general crop group (berry, cereal grain, orchard, vegetable, etc.); 2) crop types (blueberry, wheat, apple, potato, etc.), and 3) irrigation method (center pivot, drip, rill, none, etc.). Traditional agricultural land use data provides only broad use definitions limited to distinctions made between row crops and pasture. 

Disclaimer: This agricultural land use data is not updated annually for the entire state. Dryland agricultural areas are updated every two years, primarily using sources such as the CDL. Irrigated basins are updated every 3-4 years, primarily using windshield surveys in combination with other sources. For this reason, this data is not considered annual statistical data, even though it is published annually and is considered a snapshot in time. Geographically specific areas are statistically accurate on the year of update.