USGS NAWQA: The Pesticide National Synthesis Project

Pesticide Use

Estimation Methods:

Pesticide Use

Beginning 2015, the provider of the surveyed pesticide data used to derive the county-level use estimates discontinued making estimates for seed treatment application of pesticides because of complexity and uncertainty. Pesticide use estimates prior to 2015 include estimates with seed treatment application.

Estimated Annual Agricultural Pesticide Use

The USGS agricultural pesticide use estimates are supported by funding from the USGS National Water Quality Program for the purpose of better understanding pesticides in freshwater and their impact on water availability nationwide. In 2019, the National Water Quality Program pesticide monitoring was rescoped, and pesticides with use estimates were aligned as closely as possible to the new list of monitored compounds. This change resulted in a reduction in the number of compounds with monitoring and use data. The USGS will continue to publish annual, county-level agricultural pesticide use estimates. The pesticide use estimates for 2018-22 will be published in late 2024. New, final pesticide use estimates will then be published on a 5-year cycle, which aligns with the release of the USDA Census of Agriculture. After 2024, the next estimates will be published in 2029 and will estimate agricultural pesticide use for 2023-27. Preliminary estimates will no longer be published annually and later updated with final estimates.

Maps and Graphs

Data Tables

The tables, maps, and graphs provided on this Web site provide estimates of agricultural pesticide use in the conterminous United States for numerous pesticides. The tables report agricultural pesticide use at the county level and are based on farm surveys of pesticide use and estimates of harvested crop acres. The maps show agricultural pesticide use on a finer scale and are created by allocating the county-level estimates to agricultural land within each county. A graph accompanies each map and shows annual national use by major crop for the mapped pesticide for each year.

These pesticide-use estimates are suitable for evaluating national and regional patterns and trends of annual pesticide use. The reliability of estimates, however, generally decreases with scale and these estimates and maps are not intended for detailed evaluations, such as comparing within or between specific individual counties.(More Details)