USDA Census of Agriculture for American Indian Reservations

This dataset includes data from the 2012 and 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture for American Indian Reservations combined into a single flatfile spreadsheet. The 2012 data was obtained through a special tabulation request from the USDA NASS and the 2017 data was tabulated by hand and double-checked for errors. The 2012 Census included data for only 76 reservations and the 2017 census includes data for only 75. The Census for American Indian Reservations includes all farms and ranches within the boundaries of the Reservation but does not not distinguish between farmers and ranchers operating on Trust land with those operating in fee or deeded lands within Reservation boundaries. Furthermore, the published Census reports only quantified each variable for “Native” and “Reservation Total” and failed to report statistics for “Non-native” which conceals the extreme disparity that exists on Native American Reservations. While we have submitted a special tabulation request to the USDA NASS for the data on non-native operators, in the mean time, we have included a provisional calculation for “Non-native” producers, making it possible to analyze the racial disparity in agriculture on Native Lands. Additionally, the way the data is presented by the USDA it makes it difficult to aggregate the data for one or all reservations (e.g. the big picture). This data and dashboard, while only representing a fraction of tribal lands, represents the most complete source of data for agriculture on native lands. Additionally, we have added a GEOID column so each reservation's data can be joined with US Census Tiger spatial boundary for American Indian Areas.