USDA QuickStats Scraper

Scrapes agricultural production statistics from the USDA QuickStats API including crop yields, livestock inventory, and farm economics data. Access comprehensive agricultural data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) database covering decades of US agricultural history.

Features

• Query any agricultural commodity (corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, etc.)
• Filter by year, state, and statistic category
• Access national, state, and county-level data
• Configurable result limits up to 50,000 records
• Automatic data parsing and normalization
• Works with DEMO_KEY (no API key required for basic usage)

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
commodity	string	No	CORN	Agricultural commodity to search for (e.g., CORN, SOYBEANS, WHEAT, CATTLE, HOGS, CHICKENS)
year	integer	No	-	Year for data (1900-2030). Leave empty for all years
state	string	No	-	US state abbreviation (e.g., IA, IL, NE). Leave empty for national data
statisticCategory	string	No	-	Type of statistic (e.g., AREA PLANTED, PRODUCTION, YIELD, INVENTORY)
limit	integer	No	100	Maximum number of records to return (1-50,000)

Output Schema

Each record contains the following fields:

{
  "commodity": "CORN",
  "statisticCategory": "YIELD",
  "unit": "BU / ACRE",
  "value": 176.7,
  "year": 2023,
  "period": "ANNUAL",
  "state": "IOWA",
  "stateCode": "IA",
  "county": null,
  "countyCode": "000",
  "aggLevel": "STATE",
  "domainCategory": "NOT SPECIFIED",
  "sourceDesc": "SURVEY",
  "cvPercent": "2.1",
  "shortDesc": "CORN, GRAIN - YIELD, MEASURED IN BU / ACRE",
  "scrapedAt": "2024-01-15T12:00:00.000Z"
}

API Information

• Source: USDA QuickStats API
• Documentation: API Guide
• Authentication: Optional. Uses DEMO_KEY by default, which has lower rate limits
• Custom API Key: Set the USDA_API_KEY environment variable for higher limits
• Rate Limits:
  • DEMO_KEY: 30 requests/hour, 50 requests/day
  • Registered Key: 1,000 requests/hour
• Request Timeout: 120 seconds (the API can be slow for large queries)

Example Usage

Apify Console

Run the actor with default settings to get CORN data:

{
  "commodity": "CORN",
  "year": 2023,
  "state": "IA",
  "statisticCategory": "YIELD",
  "limit": 100
}

Get soybean production data for Illinois:

{
  "commodity": "SOYBEANS",
  "year": 2023,
  "state": "IL",
  "statisticCategory": "PRODUCTION",
  "limit": 500
}

Get national cattle inventory:

{
  "commodity": "CATTLE",
  "statisticCategory": "INVENTORY",
  "limit": 1000
}

Apify API (JavaScript)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN',
});

const input = {
    commodity: 'WHEAT',
    year: 2023,
    state: 'KS',
    statisticCategory: 'AREA PLANTED',
    limit: 200
};

const run = await client.actor('YOUR_USERNAME/usda-quickstats-scraper').call(input);

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Apify API (cURL)

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/YOUR_USERNAME~usda-quickstats-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "commodity": "CORN",
    "year": 2023,
    "limit": 100
  }'

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
No data returned	Invalid commodity or filter combination	Check commodity spelling (use uppercase). Try removing filters to broaden search
Rate limit exceeded	Too many requests with DEMO_KEY	Register for a free API key at USDA QuickStats and set USDA_API_KEY environment variable
Request timeout	Query returns too many results	Add more filters (year, state) or reduce limit
Empty value fields	Data not available for that combination	Some statistics are only available for certain years/states
Invalid state code	Incorrect state abbreviation	Use standard 2-letter US state codes (e.g., IA, TX, CA)

Common Commodities

• Crops: CORN, SOYBEANS, WHEAT, COTTON, HAY, RICE, BARLEY, OATS
• Livestock: CATTLE, HOGS, CHICKENS, TURKEYS, SHEEP
• Dairy: MILK
• Specialty: HONEY, MAPLE SYRUP, CHRISTMAS TREES

Common Statistic Categories

• AREA PLANTED
• AREA HARVESTED
• PRODUCTION
• YIELD
• INVENTORY
• SALES
• PRICE RECEIVED

Legal & Attribution

This actor accesses publicly available data from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) QuickStats database. Data is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture and is in the public domain.

• Data Source: USDA NASS QuickStats
• Terms of Use: USDA Data Policies
• API Terms: Users should comply with USDA API usage guidelines and rate limits

When using this data, please cite: "Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service"