Farm Tour: Agricultural Story with a Map

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Agricultural activities occupy approximately one-third of Montgomery County’s 500+ square mile land area, and the County’s annual Farm Tour helps make residents aware of the diverse agricultural industry and products that are locally available during the growing season. The County’s Office of Agriculture wished to provide a map for the 2017 Farm Tour on its website that informed and advertised as much as it displayed locations. The County Department of Technology (DTS) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team (DTS-GIS) identified the Story Map template apps offered by GIS software maker ESRI as ideal for this application and worked to convert a spreadsheet of information about the farms participating in the tour into a robust and intuitive online map complete with photos, hours of operation, and assorted information that could be easily queried from a webpage. The farm tour map can be viewed at the following URL: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/AgServices/agfarmtour.html.