United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service

Description:

Farmers’ market point data come from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Local Food Directories, a self-reported system where market managers provide basic details and locations for farmers markets. The data may not include all farmers’ markets. Markets with slightly different names or address formats may be treated as distinct entries by the USDA, resulting in potential duplicates. Coordinates are as reported through the Directory; if a location fell outside its reported county, PolicyMap re-geocoded the market address. This adjustment allowed 99% of records to be displayed on the map.

Farmers market data may not be available for every year. Since the data is collected at a point in time, missing years cannot be reconstructed. Data collection efforts in 2020 were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to data unavailability. Rates are calculated using the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates data for each corresponding year. To ensure stable, interpretable rates, counties with fewer than 1,000 residents are excluded from calculations. The number of farmers markets may be reported for years not yet covered by Census population estimates, and rates are provided only when both datasets are available.

The USDA updates its Local Food Directory on a rolling basis; PolicyMap publishes updated data annually.