Agriculture   The USDA Economics and Statistics System contains nearly 300 reports and datasets from the economics agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These materials cover U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. Most reports are text files that contain time-sensitive information. Most data sets are in spreadsheet format and include time-series data that are updated yearly. See help for more introductory system information.   Agricultural Outlook Yearbook is a fantastic source of information relating to almost any aspect of agriculture. This site provides annual statistics on U.S. crop and livestock production, utilization, trade, agricultural economics, and related topics. All the datasets are in Lotus 1-2-3 format and you are required to download them to your system. (See the Readme.txt for titles of data files and futher downloading information). There is also similar information provided for Eastern Europe & the Soviet Union. (See the Readme.doc for titles of data files). This site has data for the Soviet Union and seven East European countries on land use, agricultural inputs, crop production, livestock production, and per capita consumption of selected foods. These datasets are also in Lotus 1-2-3 format. Similar datasets are available for China ( readme.txt and readme2.txt for titles of data sets), The European Community (readme.doc for titles of data sets), and world agriculture trends and indicators (readme.doc for definitions of variables used in data collection and analysis). Red Meat Yearbook is a site that provides monthly data on commercial livestock slaughter and meat production; livestock and meat prices and price indexes; inventories of cattle, hogs, and sheep; and meat supply and utilization. Another great location for agriculture data sets is the Government Information Sharing Project. "The Government Information Sharing Demonstration Project, funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education, is directed towards demonstrating how technology can be used to create a user-friendly and powerful system for accessing U.S. Federal Government Information." (also available in a "text only" version that is much quicker for downloading data sets) The agricultural data sets are accessed either through a "zip code search" or by choosing a specific state and if you want even more focused data by county, on U.S. geographic maps. The agricultural census data is for 1982, 1987, and 1992. Once you have gone through the process of choosing a state or even further to a specific county, the page will give you a choice of what report you want to see. The first box on the page will show the title of a report you can view. Click on the small upsidedown triangle in the far right corner of the box to see what other reports are available. Once you have decided which report to view, click on the button that says "Get the above selected report." The report will then be shown at the bottom of your screen.