Map Categories, Criteria, and Data

​​​​Important Farmland Maps show the relationship between the quality of soils for agricultural production and the land's use for agricultural, urban, or other purposes.  A biennial map update cycle and notation system employed by FMMP captures conversion to urban land while accommodating rotational cycles in agricultural use.

Map Products

Important Farmland Maps are updated and released every two years.  County maps are produced as standard products and can be viewed using the online tools below. 

The newest tool for accessing map and statistical data is the California Important Farmland Finder  (CIFF):

  • Search by county, address, zip code, lat/long coordinates; or the geolocate function on your mobile device. 
  • Place points, digitize areas of interest, create buffers, and obtain Important Farmland acreages. ​

​​The Important Farmland Time Series​ is an online tool to view the Important Farmland map data as a time series, from 1984 to the present.​​​ ​​​​​​​​​

Downloadable Important Farmland data is available as GI​S data in the form of ESRI Shapefiles, zipped by update year, from 1984 to the 2020 update currently in progress.

Map and Feature Services for viewing and downloading Important Farmland data directly in ArcGIS systems is also available..

Please email FMMP at fmmp@conservation.ca.gov for additional assistance with map products.

Copyright and Usage Restrictions:​

The following information applies to all of the maps produced by the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program:

© Department of Conservation, Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program, 1984-2020. ​​
The Department of Conservation makes no warranties as to the suitability of this product for any particular purpose.

Publication and/or use of this information at scales greater than 1:100,000 is considered to be an enlargement.​

If you publish the Important Farmland data in any form, please cite the Program!  Thank you again for your interest. 

Example Citation:

Farmland Mapping Staff. Important Farmland Map Year for County name. State of California Department of Conservation, Division of Land Resource Protection. Available online at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp/Pages/County.aspxmonth, year (Release date-on map). Accessed month, year.​

Citation example for Fresno County Important Farmland 2018:

Farmland Mapping Staff. Important Farmland 2018 for Fresno County. State of California Department of Conservation, Division of Land Resource Protection. Available online at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp/Pages/Fresno.aspx​​ July, 2020. Accessed July, 2020.​


Other Information and Resources