Quick Stats

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

Quick Stats User Guide

November 2010

Table of Contents

Table of Figures

1Introduction to Quick Stats

NASS publishes U.S., State, County and other geographic level agricultural statistics for many commodities and data series. Quick Stats is a web based application that gives you the ability to query the agricultural census and survey statistics based on the simple filtering rules of What, Where, and When.

• What refers to the ability to filter data based on a specific Commodity or subject area.

• Where refers to the ability to filter data based on Location; a geographic level such as the entire United States, one or more specific States, one or more zip codes, one or more districts, and one or more counties.

• When refers to the ability to filter data based on Time, such as the year or a specific point in time.

2Access and Bookmark the Quick Stats Home Page

1. Click the link or enter https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ into your web browser’s address bar. The Quick Stats home page displays. (Figure 2)
   
   

2. If you are using Internet Explorer, select Favorites>Add to Favorites… from your menu. The Add a Favorite dialog displays. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Add a Favorite Dialog

3. Click the Add button to save the Quick Stats home page as a favorite.

4. You may bookmark or save the Quick Stats home page with any other browser as well.

3Getting Around in Quick Stats

3.1Quick Stats Home Page

Figure 2: NASS Quick Stats Home Page

The Quick Stats home page is where you begin. A few strategic clicks here will give you quick access to the statistics that you need. You can click on the blue question mark icons to access useful information on the three Quick Stats groups.

Look at the Status section in the top right corner of Figure 2 above. It displays 25,697,664 records. More than likely this is substantially more information than you are looking for. If you would click on a Year from the Select Time area, the home page would update and the number of records would narrow down to those of your selected year. You could also hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click on more than one year to select multiple years.

Once the Status section displays fewer than 50,000 records, you can click the Get Data button at the bottom of the screen (Figure 2) to retrieve your results.

3.1.1Data Fields

Quick Stats is divided into three main areas: Select Commodity, Select Location, and Select Time, which correspond to the What, Where and When for your data search.

In Figure 2 above, the Program, Sector, Group and Commodity data fields are displayed under the Select Commodity area.

Program has two choices, Census and Survey. If you only need the Census of Agriculture, select Census. If you only want data excluding Census of Agriculture, select Survey. If you do not select, you will get Census as well as Survey data.

NOTE: By not selecting particular items from a data field, you are saying you want all of them.

In Figure 2 above, Sector has five broad areas to choose from;

• Animals and Products

• Crops

• Demographics

• Wirtschaft

• Environmental

Now take a look at Group in the Select Commodity area of Figure 2 above. Group allows you to further constrain your results. You may choose an item from this field, or go directly to the Commodity section to select an item of interest, e.g., corn and soybeans.

The data fields within each group will update dynamically as you click on one or more selections for your query. For example, if your first click is on the Locale field from the Select Location area of the home page, the values of all related fields will update automatically. Location allows you to determine where you want data from: Counties, States, U.S., or Zip Codes for example.

NOTE: You can click on any field of the home page to start your query. Many users find it useful to start their search by clicking on a Year first. You may also start in Standort if you are interested in a particular state or county.

When you click the Get Data button at the bottom of the home page, the system will display your requested data. You may click the Clear button at the bottom of the home page to start over at any time.

As you work within the Quick Stats website, you can click on the Home, Recent Statistics, Feedback and Help links at the top of any page to access those sections.

3.1.2Data Item Field

The Data Item field displays dynamically after you have selected one or more items from the Commodity field. (Figure 3) You may select one or more items from the Data Item field.

Figure 3 - The Data Item field

3.2Keyword Search

The Keyword Search field is near the top center of the home page. Enter a search term in the Keyword Search field, and then click its Search button to populate the fields on the home page. From there you may click on one or more fields to narrow down your search, and then click the Get Data button to display your results.

Figure 4: Keyword Search field

The Keyword Search feature allows you to search using any word. For any keyword that you enter, all matching items will be returned (i.e. a search for Corn will yield results for Corn, Sweet Corn, and Popcorn).

Corn was entered for the search term in Figure 5 below, and the system returned 1,638,064 records. From here you would select a Year or other data item to narrow down your search. Remember, only 50,000 records can be returned at a time.

Figure 5: Search results for the term 'corn'

If you enter two or more keywords, the results will include entries for all entered keywords. For example, a search for apple orange will yield results for any items containing the word orange oder the word apple. You may enter upper or lower case characters for your search.

NOTE: Currently, the Keyword Search function is only enabled for the Commodity area. The Location and Time areas do not interact with the Keyword Search function at this time.

3.3Recent Statistics

Click on the Recent Statistics tab to view the latest statistics loaded into the Quick Stats database in chronological order. (Figure 6)

Figure 6: Recent Statistics page

As you scroll down the Recent Statistics page, you will notice that the statistics are grouped as follows:

• Heute

• Past 2 – 7 Days

• Past 7 – 60 Days

Select a Release Time or a Commodity associated with a release time from the list. The advantage of selecting a Commodity with an associated Release Time is that it will narrow your search quickly.

Selecting a date or commodity from this list will enter the related statistical data as search criteria on the home page. You may then click the Get Data button to retrieve your results. You may also select another field(s) to fine tune your search before clicking the Get Data button.

Select a Commodity or Release Time from the list to see how the system works. You can click the Recent Statistics tab at any time to return to this page.

3.4Feedback

Feel free to click on the Feedback tab and send us your comments at any time. All feedback is reviewed, as it helps the developers to find ways to improve Quick Stats.

Figure 7: Quick Stats Feedback page

3.5Help

Click the Help link to access this user guide in HTML format.

3.6Buttons

Figure 8: Get Data and Reset Buttons

Get Data – Click the Get Data button to generate your data grid based on your search criteria.

Reset – Click the Reset button to return all query fields to their default selections.

3.7Data Grid

The data grid is the display of census and/or survey data based on the filters you have selected.

Figure 9: Data Grid

3.7.1Data Grid Column Headers

The column headers on the data grid are interactive. You can sort the data in the table by clicking on a column header. You may also show and hide columns by right clicking anywhere on the column header and un-checking the names of the columns that are not needed. The columns can be added back by right-clicking on the column header and then re-checking the previously hidden columns.

Figure 10: Data Grid Column Headers

3.7.2Data Grid Cells

The cells within each line item are interactive. Clicking on a cell will further constrain the records displayed in the table based on the value of the cell that was clicked. Clicking a cell will also cause the Breadcrumb links to automatically update, showing a change in depth of the records displayed in the table.

Figure 11: Data Grid Cells with results from 2002 highlighted

3.7.3Data Grid Outputs

Spreadsheet – Click the Spreadsheet link at the top of the data grid to export the records as a *.csv file which can be opened with any spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel.

Printable – Click the Printable link at the top of the data grid if you want to reformat the display for better printing quality.

Figure 12: Data Grid Output Links

3.8Breadcrumb Links

Breadcrumbs are navigational links that appear above the data grid, directly below the blue Quick Stats header at the top of the home page. As you build your query, the displayed links are updated with each of your field selections. If you ever feel lost after starting a query, just click on a link in the Breadcrumb path to navigate back to any section of your query.

Figure 13: Data Grid Breadcrumb Navigation

4Quick Stats Tutorial

4.1Create a Data Grid

Quick Stats is designed to give you census data and/or survey agricultural estimates data as broad or as specific as you would like. You can begin limiting choices anywhere and get data as soon as the results are less than 50,000 rows.

Follow this example to create a data grid based on a few filters. In this example you will create a data grid displaying all data items related to the Almonds commodity in the state of California.

1. Click the Almonds line item in the Commodity Field. Notice how the home page updates all of the data fields related to your selection.

Figure 14: Almonds selected from the Commodity field

2. Click the State line item in the Locale field.

Figure 15: State selected from the Locale field

3. Click the California line item in State field.

Figure 16: California selected from the State field

4. Click the Get Data button at the bottom of your screen. (Figure 17) The data grid displays your results. (Figure 18)

Figure 17: Get Data button

5. For this example, the data grid will display 233 rows of data, spanning the years 1996 to the present. (Figure 18)

Figure 18 - Your search results

Now let’s imagine that you only need data for three years. Follow these steps to fine tune your search.

1. Click the Back button at the bottom of your search results. Your initial search page displays again.

2. Hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard, and click on the years 2009, 2008, 2007. The screen updates according to your selection.

3. Click the Get Data button. Your search results return, but this time they are only displaying your selected years’ data.

Once you have the results that you need, you can use the results grid to sort your data, filter the data based on the value of a cell, show or hide columns, re-arrange the order of the columns, export your data, and print your data.

4.2Sort Data in a Data Grid

Follow this example to sort your data grid based on the Year column.

1. Click the Year column header of your data grid. Your data grid is then sorted in ascending order based on the year.

Figure 19: Year column header in ascending order

2. Click the Year column header again. Your data grid is then re-sorted in descending order based on the year.

Figure 20: Year column header in descending order

All column headers of your data grid will sort the same way.

4.3Show or Hide a Column

Right click a column header to display the Show/Hide Columns menu. The items on this menu correspond to the column headers of your data grid.

Click on a column name from the menu to check or uncheck an item. A blank check box means the column is hidden. A check mark indicates that the column is visible.

This feature is very useful when you only need a few columns of data.

Figure 21: Show/Hide Columns menu

4.4Pivot by Columns

Use the Pivot feature to view your data grid by the values of a specific column. In other words, you can trade places with columns and rows to get a better view of your data.

To Pivot by a column, right click on a column and select the Pivot by… item from the resulting menu. You may pivot on more than one column.

In Figure 22, there are 1,083 rows of data. In Figure 23, the data is pivoted by the Data Item column, which produces 697 rows of data.

Figure 22 - Right click on a column header to pivot

Figure 23 - Pivot by Data Item example

You may continue to pivot on as many columns of data as you would like.

It is safe to experiment with different pivot options. After you have created a pivot, you may click on Data in your Navigation History link near the top left to navigate back to your starting point. (Figure 24) You may also click on the Back button in the lower left of your screen to return to your home page, and update your selections from there.

Figure 24: Navigation History links

4.5Save Your Data Grid as a Spreadsheet

Follow these steps to save your data grid as a spreadsheet.

1. Click the Spreadsheet link near the upper right side of your data grid. The File Download dialog displays.

Figure 25: File Download dialog

2. You may click the Save button to save your spreadsheet on your computer or other location, or

3. Click the Open button to open the spreadsheet immediately.

Your file will be saved in a *.csv format, which can be used with any spreadsheet application.

4.6Print Your Data Grid

Follow these steps to preview and print your data grid.

1. Click the Printable link near the top right area of your data grid. Your data displays in a printable format.

Figure 26: Data Grid's Printable link

2. Select File > Print from your browser’s menu to print your data grid, or File > Print Preview to preview your work.

3. You may click your browser’s Back button to return to the normal data grid format.

5Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations

USDA	United States Department of Agriculture
NASS	National Agricultural Statistics Service
.csv	Comma-Separated Variables