Compendiums

• Agricultural Economics (USDA/Cornell)
  • Over 140 data sets on U.S. crops, livestock, trade, and prices
  • Most files in Lotus 1-2-3 format (.wk1) and must be downloaded

• Agricultural Statistics (USDA)
  • U.S. agricultural production, supplies, costs, and facilities
  • National, foreign, and some state data
  • Annual report available on the web since 1994 in Adobe Acrobat format
  • Additional search capacities on CD-ROM, 1994+ (Documents Center DoX32)
  • Current paper edition in Reference Room (S 21 .A492); issues 1936-97 in Buhr under same call number

• Agriculture Factbook 2002 (USDA)
  • Brief statistics on food and prices; rural America; farms, ownership and acreage
  • Various USDA services
  • Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format

• Economic Research Service (USDA)
  • Production and production outlook for individual agricultural commodities since 1995
  • Includes world food production as well as U.S.
  • Agricultural imports and exports
  • Some data on rural America

• Farm Labor
  • Employment and wages by broad type of farm, region, and size class
  • Quarterly data since 1995

• National Agricultural Statistics Service
  • Primary data source for information on livestock, crops, the environment
  • Press releases, annuals, census of agriculture data
  • Most recent issue of the Weekly Crop-Weather State Reports
    • Crop progress and days suitable for field work
    • Average temperature for weather stations within a state for the current week
    • Precipitation for the past few weeks

• State of the Land (USDA)
  • Maps depict U.S. croplands, grazing lands, forest lands, and wetlands by acreage and their threats (e.g. soil erosion)
  • Includes statistical tables in HTML or ASCII format

• Web Soil Survey (NASS)
  • Interactive mapping program with soil survey data

Guides

• Agriculture B2B
  • Industry web site with extensive links to web sites on biotechnology, animals and crops, marketplace channels and news
  • All links are annotated
  • While many of the web sites are commercial, some carry statistical data

• AgriSurf
  • Massive annotated list of agricultural and veterinary web sites worldwide
  • Arranged by broad subject (extension, farming, forestry, gardening, markets, weather)
  • Searchable by keyword
  • Annotations include symbols of geographic source and type of information
  • Web site down on 4/3/2006

• Michigan State University
  • Department of Agricultural Economics
    • International Development Working Papers include data on food and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
    • Annotated links to marketing information
    • Bibliography of printed departmental publications with statistics on Michigan, the United States, and foreign countries
  • Department of Crop and Soil Science
    • Current newsletters may have national and state data on crop damage, crop prices, and agricultural costs, such as fertilizers
  • Department of Entomology
    • Newsletters may contain national and Michigan data on insects and pests

• State Agriculture Departments (Piper)
  • Links to agriculture department web sites in the 50 states
  • Most sites have considerable local data

Census of Agriculture

• Census of Agriculture 2002
  • Interactive tool for extracting data at the state, county, zip code and Congressional district level
  • Number of farms, livestock, crops, owner characteristics, and chemicals used
  • Downloadable into csv or gis formats
  • Also available in pdf format

• Census of Agriculture 1997
  • Interactive tool for extracting data at the state, county, zip code and Congressional district level
  • Number of farms, livestock, crops, owner characteristics, and chemicals used
  • Downloadable into csv or gis formats
  • Also available in pdf format

• Census of Agriculture - 1992 (Agriculture Department)
  • State reports are very large files in Adobe Acrobat format
  • Subject reports, atlas, and state/county summaries are unique and more usable

• Census of Agriculture, 1987, 1992, 1997 (Cornell)
  • Extraction tool permitting a comparison of county-level data on farms, livestocks, crops, and agricultural chemicals for a three-census period

• Extract Software with 1987 Census of Agriculture

Food Stamps

• Characteristics of Food Stamp Households (FNS)
  • Income, disability, sex, race, age, and military status data of food stamp recipients for previous year
  • Detailed tables for the nation and state
  • 121 pages in pdf format

• Food Program Data (U.S. Food and Nutrition Service)
  • Number of people participating in the food stamp program by state
  • Some data extends back to 1969

Nutrition

• Dietary Guidelines for Americans: 2005
  • Major revision suggesting Americans count calories and get 30 minutes of exercise per day
  • Includes fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals

• Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy...
  • Recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences on calories, exercise, fats, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber
  • For incorporation in the 2005 U.S. dietary guidelines
  • For the current exercise guidelines see the 1996 Surgeon Generals Report on Physical Activity
  • For the current nutrition guidelines, see Nutrition.gov

• Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System (USDA Economic Research Service)
  • Data base of spreadsheets
  • Nutrients available per capita per day since 1909 (calories, carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins) for the U.S. public
  • Specific foods available per capita per year since 1909 (e.g. 254 eggs available per person per year in 2005)
  • Daily per capita servings available of food adjusted for spoilage (in 2005 there were 1.48 ounces of chicken available per capita per day but only but only .026 servings of broccoli

• Food and Nutrition Information Center (US)
  • Dietary guidlines for Americans
  • Data on food composition, healthy eating, and body weight standards
  • Food Guide Pyramids for children and adults

• Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures (ERS)
  • Annual national data, 1970-1997
  • Food prices and per capita food consumption by commodity
  • Nutrient values, income and expenditures
  • PDF format in chapters

• Glycemic Index
  • National Cancer Institute's estimation of the Glycemic index for foods based on a 1994-96 health interview survey
  • See the Diet History Questionnaire for additional information

• National Nutrient Database
  • Composition of individual foods by moisture, fiber, minerals, vitamins, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fats
  • Second group of tables arranged by substance (e.g. fiber, minerals) and then a listing of the foods which have them

• Popular Weight Loss Diets (USDA)
  • Analyzes the effectiveness of high, mid and low fat diets
  • Includes Atkins, Pritkin, Weight Watchers, DASH
  • Concludes a 1500 calorie varied diet is the best
  • Executive summary released on January 10, 2001 and converted to HTML by the Documents Center

Statistical Indexes

• AgDB - Agriculture-Related Information
  • Extensive links to federal, state, and non-government data systems, databases, and data sets
  • Searchable by keyword (e.g. name of crop and name of state)

• FedStats
  • Comprehensive listing to statistical programs of over 70 federal government agencies
  • Arranged by agency or program; includes explanatory material and contacts
  • Search engine indexes individual statistical tables by keyword or agency and provides direct connection

• Statistical Universe (UMich Only)
  • Indexes and abstracts federal government statistics since 1974; business, association and state government data since 1980, and international agencies since 1983
  • Access through the Search Abstracts menu
  • Delimiters include Boolean operators and numerous proximity indicators, frequency, and comparative data (by city, by foreign country, by age, by disease)
    • Sample Search: gdp w/10 quarterly and by foreign country
  • About 15% of the abstracts link to full text
  • For items not hot-linked:
    • Write down abstract number (e.g. ASI 1997 9391-7) and bring to the Documents Center for the microfiche version
    • Search by title in Google for a web version

Statistical Sources

• FAO Statistical Yearbook
  • Compilation of country data on crop and livestock production, trade and fertilizers
  • First volume, beginning 2004, in Shapiro Undergraduate Library: HD 1421 .F3671
  • Replaces the Production Yearbook (Docs. HD 1421 .F64) and Trade Yearbook (Docs. HD 9000.4 .F64)
  • Data also appears in FAOStats

• Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations)
  • Agriculture, fisheries, forestry, land use, and population data bases
  • Searchable by commodity or country with various outputs
  • Some time series date back to 1961
  • FAO Document Repository
    • Full text of many FAO reports since 1986
    • Three different search engines provide a combination approach by title, document owner, series number, date, and language but not be subject heading

• Food Security Statistics (fao)
  • Spreadsheets provide malnourishment data, nutrient consumption, access to food, and health statistics for individual countries
  • PDF summaries for individual countries provide the same data on nutritional status

• Foreign Agriculture Service (United States)
  • Monthly reports on foreign agriculture production, weather, and tariff quotas as well as forecasts of future crop production
  • Includes agricultural and horticultural commodities

• State of Food and Agriculture
  • Primarily a textual file of agricultural issues worldwide and in individual countries
  • Includes summary graphs of agricultural, fisheries, and forestry production; food shortages, and foreign assistance

• State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2005 (FAO)
  • Appendices provide number and percent of people in less developed countries who are undernourished
  • Calories available per person, main starchy food, and life expectancy (as low as 40 in some African countries)
  • PDF format; approximately 1 MB

• United States Agency for International Development
  • Extensive descriptions of its programs to alleviate world poverty with assistance on agriculture, disease, climate changes and the environment
  • Web site searchable by country, broad subject, or keyword
  • Some data available

• World Resources Institute
  • Numerous statistical tables in Adobe Acrobat format with country data on the environment, fisheries, forestry, water, weather, and pesticide use
  • Earth Trends database and its Agricultural Database are the richest sources of statistics

Statistical Indexes

• FAO Member Countries
  • Each page links to FAO agricultural data for that couintry
  • Numerous press releases

• Statistical Universe (UMich Only)
  • Indexes and abstracts federal government statistics since 1974; business, association and state government data since 1980, and international agencies since 1983
  • Access through the Abstracts menu
  • Delimiters include Boolean operators and numerous proximity indicators, frequency, and comparative data (by city, by foreign country, by age, by disease)
    • Sample Search: gdp w/10 quarterly and by foreign country
  • About 15% of the abstracts link to full text
  • For items not hot-linked:
    • Write down abstract number (e.g. ASI 1997 9391-7) and bring to the Documents Center for the microfiche version
    • Search title in Google

Grace York, Coordinator, Documents Center
University of Michigan Library
Ankur Mehta, Documents Assistant, May 2002
Graphics by Sherry Piontek and Barbara Perles
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