This interactive dashboard provides a focused view of the percentage of Native producers within tribal lands, which is a good estimate of the amount of farm production in the hands of tribal producers in Indian Country. It is in fact a focused view of one question of many contained in the Census of Agriculture for American Indian Reservation for which we created a full interactive tool (Explore the full Census here). This dashboard helps tribal users and land planners see who controls agricultural production on tribal lands—specifically, the share of farms and ranch production operated by Native producers. That measure is a practical starting point for assessing tribal economic participation, land-use equity, and opportunities to strengthen Native-led agriculture.
The dashboard presents the percentage of Native producers within tribal lands, using USDA Census of Agriculture data for American Indian reservations. It complements the broader tool, which covers 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022 Census data and allows users to examine one reservation, several reservations, or aggregate results over time.
For tribal citizens, producers, and leadership, the measure can:
Make an abstract issue visible: It translates agricultural data into a simple indicator of Native control over production within tribal lands.
Support advocacy and accountability: It provides evidence for conversations about whether agricultural resources and opportunities on tribal lands are benefiting Native people.
Reveal variation across Indian Country: Users can compare the Native-producer share across Indian Country, helping identify whether tribal participation in agriculture is growing, declining, or remaining stagnant.
Ground community discussions: The percentage gives tribal governments, producers, and organizations a shared starting point for discussing food sovereignty, access to land, capital, markets, and technical assistance.
For example, if the Native-producer share is low in a reservation with substantial agricultural activity, that can prompt questions about leasing arrangements, land access, financing, extension services, and whether federal or tribal programs are reaching Native operators.
This data comes from the 2017 Census and can be found when searching our full Census Dashboard. It only provides a snapshot in time for the degree of Native control of agriculture land within reservations.
We have updated our terminology from “raw data” to “source data” to better reflect the contextual nature and origins of the information we provide. This change acknowledges that all data is influenced by the context in which it is collected, and aims to promote a more inclusive and accurate understanding of the information presented.
Download the formatted source data in the bottom right corner of this dashboard.
This may affect the functionality of our maps, dashboards, source data, and more. Please contact us if we can assist you in the meantime!