USDA · USDA-061 · record R1362

Cover Crop Mapping

Department of Agriculture · Farm Production and Conservation

Overview

Development stage: In development or acquisitionSource: a) Pre-deployment – The use case is in a development or acquisition status.
High-impact designation: High-impactSource: a) High-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: Not reported
Withheld from public reporting: Not reported

Mission

Topic area: Service Delivery
Operational functions: Image and video analysis Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The agency needs to independently check and track the use of cover crops on farms. Yearly maps are made using satellite images and models of plant growth to measure the use of cover crops on farms in the U.S. Midwest.

Expected benefits

Benefits by helping the agency independently check and track how many farmers are using cover crops, reducing the need for on-site visits to determine if cover crops are present on a field.

System outputs

The output is a state-level map of detected cover crops by year, classified by planting date (fall, spring).

Technology

AI classification: Classical / predictive MLSource: Classical/Predictive Machine Learning: Models trained on data to make predictions or classifications based on identified patterns or relatio…
System name(s): Not reported
Custom-developed code: Not reported
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Not reported
Vendor (as reported): Not reported
Vendors (standardized): None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII: Not reported
Privacy Impact Assessment: Not reported
Authorization to Operate: Not reported
Demographic features: Not reported
Training and evaluation data: Not reported
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Pre-deployment testingNo answer reported

AI impact assessmentNo answer reported

Independent reviewNo answer reported

Ongoing monitoringNo answer reported

Operator trainingNo answer reported

Fail-safeNo answer reported

Appeal processNo answer reported

User and public consultationNo answer reported

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported