"Agricultural Imagery tells the story of America’s Heartlands, it helps us to understand complex issues, appreciate relationships among things, and wonder at the dreams of generations." – Denny A. Skiles, Director

President Abraham Lincoln established the 'People's Department' (USDA) in 1862, with the full realization that science and technology would advance and secure production efforts of the American farmer. This ideology is most evident in these times of technological advancements. Farmers now have the most sophisticated tools available, including global positioning systems (GPS), portable computers, genetics, geographic information systems (GIS), and nearly a century of documented agricultural imagery that tells the stories of where we have been, where we are today and guides us where to go in our future.

The Aerial Photography Field Office continues this rich history of innovation and service in its role as executor of agricultural imagery for the USDA. Technological changes in the production of aerial imagery including the migration from analog to digital imagery, coupled with the rapid adoption of GIS tools has created new opportunities for consumers, and places a greater demand on APFO for digital products and services. The need for integrated services and the continuing adventure of discovering applications that help our customers in ways we could not imagine a decade ago drive us to new frontiers.

As we acknowledge our legacy and responsibilities as the repository for aerial imagery dating from 1955 to the present, we embrace the challenges in the employment of imagery related technologies in support of the FSA mission.

We invite you to take a walk through our past as captured in the Annual Reports listed below and explore our website to see what we are doing today. We are excited about how our future is developing!