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almost 8 years ago

Getting started with the Farm Data Dashboard

Some questions have cropped up (pun totally intended — hey, we’re all nerds here) regarding the Farm Data Dashboard. Here are some insights to help you get started.

Q: Do the data sets included on the Farm Data Dashboard contain real-time data?

A: The data hosted on the dashboard is made up of snapshots of real USDA data sets gathered specifically for our hackathon. These data set snapshots are representative of a large portion of the real-time data the USDA continually collects, but they are static snapshots. The dashboard exists to provide an easy access point and tools for accessing and implementing these very large data sets.

We encourage you to use additional data sets as well; just make sure you use at least one of those listed on the Farm Data Dashboard.

Q: I’ve noticed some missing row IDs in these data sets. Why is that?

A: Within the data sets there are some row IDs that may seem to be missing from the sequence (for example, you might see a row ID of 335 when the row count is only 330). These instances are caused when there is no record (no data) for a row ID — and thus that row ID is not included in the row count. The row IDs and the row count may not match, but you’re not missing any data.

Q: How do I import data from the Farm Data Dashboard into Excel?

A: Check out this video for instructions about importing dashboard data into Excel.

Got additional questions? We've got answers. Send a query to support@devpost.com, and we'll respond as soon as we can. You can also post questions to the discussion forum.