Agricultural Districts

Agricultural districts comprise nearly 9 million acres (as of 2017) of land in 53 counties in New York State. As districts are created, or modified during renewal, maps are generated, based on tax parcels included in the districts. Each county is responsible for creating maps to meet the requirements of the Agricultural Districts Mapping Program. Since 1977, on behalf of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell University’s Institute for Resource Information Sciences (IRIS) has facilitated the mapping program. IRIS’s primary responsibility is to support agricultural district mapping efforts by reviewing, distributing, and archiving agricultural district maps, and to provide consultation services.