OpenStreetMap landuse=farmland (OSMF)
Community-mapped farmland polygons, globally. ODbL (share-alike): if you build a database from this, that database stays open too.
What this is
OpenStreetMap's `landuse=farmland` polygons are crowd-mapped agricultural land across the globe. Density varies — Western Europe is rich, much of Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is sparse. Accessible via Overpass API, bulk PBF, or OSM Landuse project tiles.
Why we surface it
When no authoritative parcel layer exists, OSM farmland fills the gap. Coverage is honest about its limits. License is ODbL (share-alike): derived databases inherit the same obligation — worth knowing before you build on it.
What you can do with it
Shown for commercial use. Personal, research, and nonprofit use is often more permissive — switch the verdict lens on the catalog.
- Internal / individual use
- Free to use internally, including commercial work. Database share-alike only triggers when you share the database itself.
- Redistribute the data
- Redistributing the database (or a big chunk of it) means: credit the source, keep it open, and license it share-alike under ODbL.
- Republish a derivative
- Depends what you're publishing. A 'map, report, or image' made from the data (a 'Produced Work') only needs attribution. A 'derived database' must stay open under ODbL. Know which one you're shipping.
- Build into a private product
- A closed derived 'database' is blocked by ODbL's share-alike. (A Produced Work baked into a product is OK with attribution — if that's your case, treat it as the share-derivative answer.)
This decoder is a starting point, not legal advice. For commercial deployment, run the actual license terms past someone who reads them for a living.
○ Planned
Not in the map yet — this source is on the V1 backlog. Schema, sample, and citation slots fill in once the layer ships.