Farm Map Tracts

Farmapper groups farm shape definitions into tracts. Basically, each tract is a bucket that holds different farm shapes. This enables easy separation of owned ground, leased ground, pivot ground, dry ground, different farm locations; basically, group the farm definitions into any categories that make sense for your farm map.

Every tract has a customizable name, shape, or color and can contain any number of geometric shapes taken from our preloaded shape databases or create your own shape. Tracts can be organized to allow for easy navigation between different parts of the farm or different farms. Separate the Old Jones Place from the Home Farm, load it up with the related farm documents, deed, water rights, warranty information, to save for later.

Tracts are also used in some of the other tools available to Farmapper members. Generate KML (Google Earth friendly) output and export the file for use elsewhere. Generate a Cropscape map for the farms to track the crop history according to USDA Cropscape.

Every shape added to the farm becomes a new tract automatically and the shapes can be dragged between tracts to form bigger groups or extracted to create smaller ones. Each shape can be selected to merge into a larger shape

Tracts guide

Public Land Survey database

Legal descriptions can be confusing and challenging to locate in the real world. It is also difficult to describe to others where your farm is located and how it lays out. Throughout much of the country, Township, Range, Meridian, quarter sections, etc. are used to identify the locations of parcels of land. Farmapper allows users to search a database to build a farm tract based on the data available.

Search for Preloaded Farm Shapes

Users can search by either clicking on the map which triggers a point in polygon search or use the searchable database of these shapes through the legal description dialog. If you click on any point on the map we will look for any shapes in our database containing the point of the click. Magically, click on the map and if the quarter quarter section or other shape is in our database then just add it to the tract. Alternatively, you can look them up using the legal description dialog to input the meridian, township, range, section number etc. Though this data is imperfect, it is often extremely useful to locate a farm and build a representative digital farm shape. When there isn’t quarter section data available then Farmapper allows the user to add whole sections to the farm.

Section Overlay Grid

Farmapper users also can use the overlay grid of the Township and Range to use as a guide. Log in to Farmapper and zoom into the map view close enough we a yellow overlay grid of section boundaries, and the township and range will help you to locate a property.

Next Level Aliquots

For regular qq sections we support adding quarter quarter quarter quarter sections (q4sections). You can add these algorithmically generated 2.5 acre shapes from the map or from the dialog.

Township, Range and Section user guide

Allotment database

If your ranch contains a BLM range allotment then we have a database of recent shapes. Similarly to qq sections you can click on the map and we will display an allotment containing the clicked point. We also have a separate dialog for allotment searching. This allows the ranch map to show both deeded and public ground with each customized to stand out.

Allotment database user guide

Texas Survey database

Our system contains also the data from Texas Land Survey. If your farm is in Texas, then you can create your farm description quickly looking up the parcels on the map or using Texas survey dialog

Texas Survey database user guide

Add custom shapes

If your farm has less regular shape then you can just draw it on the map. You can use rectangles, polygons and even circles.

Custom shapes user guide

Add holes

Sometimes you have your farm drawn as you want, but there is something that you want excluded or taken out. In order to make an “out” Farmapper allows the drawing of holes. Easily "draw" any number of holes or “outs” in any tract of your farm and carve out a parcel like a Thanksgiving turkey. You can use custom drawing tools - rectangles and polygons to carve a hole.

Holes user guide

Add documents

Would you like to store information to your farm project or tract? No problem. You can attach and store a wide range of documents to the project as a whole or to any tract of your farm. Drop in photos, pdfs of water rights, farm records, an appraisal, soil map, excel files, etc. That way you will have all required information in one place to serve as a backup and to share with other parties.

Documents and Farm Records user guide

Add CropScape data

Have you heard about Cropland Data Layer? Have you heard about Cropland Data Layer? Farmapper puts this data from the USDA NASS service just one click away. You can select any tracts of your farm and the crop year and click a CropScape generation button. A few minutes later you will find crop data maps for your area in your document list

CropScape user guide

Customize colors

Would you like to change colors on your map? Change the fill lines or the polygon fill color. Not a problem. You can customize the look of every polygon category - Section, Allotment and Custom shape. You can also define classes and apply them to a selected tract. If that is not enough you can define the look for every individual tract of your map.

Customize colors user guide