Question
I’ve heard that a lot of young people want to farm but don’t have the financial resources to get started. Is that true and how does livestock help young people get involved in farming?
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Answer
Yes, farming is certainly capital intensive. An acre of Iowa farmland can cost as much as $5,000 while a new tractor can cost more than $200,000. On the other hand, livestock farming offers young people a more cost-effective way to get a foothold in their chosen profession.

For example, a farm family from West Branch recently welcomed their son back to the farm after he graduated from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. They penciled out that the family would need to purchase around 1,200 acres of cropland to support additional family. This represented a cost of approximately $4.5 million (1,200 acres at an average price of $3,700 per acre). On the other hand, the family invested around $500,000 in some new hog facilities. Today, the family farms together in Cedar County…thanks to livestock!

Question
I’ve heard that manure is a valuable resource to fertilize crops. However, do we have enough land in Iowa for the manure that’s currently being produced by the state’s livestock, dairy and poultry herds?
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Answer
A 2006 analysis by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University evaluated the number of hog and cattle finishing spaces needed to fertilize crops per section of cropland. These estimates follow sound agronomic practices and environmental regulations. Iowa has about 36,000 sections of corn and soybeans. If all were planted in a corn-corn-soybean rotation (a rotation that’s gaining popularity given the demand for corn) under a phosphorous standard, it would take all of the hogs and 80 percent of the fed cattle in the United States to generate adequate nutrients fro the crops. Iowa currently is home to approximately 26 percent of the nation’s hog inventory and 6 percent of the nation’s cattle inventory. Clearly, Iowa has the land resources to expand animal agriculture!

Question
I often hear that we need to add livestock in Iowa to benefit the state’s economy. Can you be more specific?
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Answer
A report released in November 2006 by Iowa State University titled “A Vision for Iowa Animal Agriculture” concludes that Iowa has the capacity to increase all animal ag species raised in the state. Just a modest increase in the state’s cattle, hog, dairy, equine, poultry and sheep/goat herds would create 40,000 additional jobs (190,000 Iowans – or one of every 10 workers – are currently employed by agriculture) and $21.2 billion in new economic activity. The growth will also boost Iowa’s flourishing renewable fuels industry and add value to the state’s corn and soybean output (when it comes to marketing crops, it’s often said that “the seller pays the freight.” Therefore, feeding corn and soybeans locally to livestock instead of shipping it to other states and countries is a tremendous value-added opportunity for farmers and their communities).

Question
Just where does Iowa rank in terms of livestock output, farms and farm receipts?
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Answer
HOGS   CATTLE AND CALVES  
#1   #7  
Number of hogs raised in Iowa: 16.5 million   Number of cattle and calves in Iowa 4.0 million  
NATIONAL RANKINGS   NATIONAL RANKINGS  
2 North Carolina 9.6 million
3 Minnesota 6.7 million
4 Illinois 4.2 million
5 Indiana 3.2 million
   1 Texas 14.0 million
2 Nebraska 6.7 million
3 Kansas 6.4 million
  
       
EGG PRODUCTION   NET FARM INCOME  
# 1   # 4  
Number of eggs produced in Iowa 13.5 billion   Total value of Iowa farms' net income $3.4 billion  
NATIONAL RANKINGS   NATIONAL RANKINGS  
2 Ohio 7.5 billion
3 Pennsylvania 6.7 billion
4 Indiana 6.6 billion
Perspective: 1988 – 2 billion eggs		   1 California $9.1 billion
2 Texas $6.3 billion
3 North Carolina $3.6 billion		  
       
DAIRY FARMING   PRINCIPAL CROPS  
#12   # 2  
Pounds of milk produced annually 4 billion   Total value of Iowa's principal crops $10.1 billion  
NATIONAL RANKINGS   NATIONAL RANKINGS  
1 California 38 billion pounds
2 Wisconsin 24 billion pounds
3 New York 12 billion pounds		   1 California $18.9 billion

3 Illinois $9.8 billion
4 Minnesota $7.0 billion		  
       
NUMBER OF FARMS   POULTRY  
# 3   Number of commercial layers in Iowa 55 million  
Number of farms in Iowa 88,600   Perspective: 1988 – 8 million layers  
NATIONAL RANKINGS      
1 Texas 230,000
2 Missouri 105,000
4 Kentucky 84,000		      

Question
How do livestock farms affect the value of nearby property?
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Answer
Property values – and their rise and fall – are based on many factors including proximity to business, proximity of recreational opportunities, the performance of local, state and national economies, housing availability, population trends and proximity of transportation routes, to name just a few. However, it’s fair to say that a strong and robust livestock sector enhances property values.

For example, Sioux County counts more farms than any other county. It also ranks No. 1 in the state in the number of cattle and calves, No. 1 in sheep and No. 1 in hogs. In fact, Sioux County leads the state in the market value of agricultural products sold – nearly 80 percent of the total marketings come from livestock. Not surprisingly, Sioux County ranks near the top in Iowa in the value of an acre of farmland and is a bustling location for new home construction and strong real estate prices.

Furthermore, a study conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Department of Applied Economics found that positive influences were found between raising livestock an property values. The authors of the report wrote that there was “. . . statistically significant evidence of a link between feedlot location and house prices in the study area. That relationship was positive in sign, not negative as initially expected. Houses closer to feedlots appear to have sold for more than expected . . .

“In our judgment, these property value effects are not ‘small,’” the report continued. “Simply adding a feedlot to the northwest of a house, for example, adds 9.4 percent on average to a lower-price house’s value. We cannot dismiss these influences as insubstantial.”

In their concluding statement, authors said the results were surprising. “Most anecdotal evidence and some appraisal studies seemed to pint in the opposite direction. We’d expected to find either negative or at least non-positive influences in the present study. It is of some interest, in light of these findings, that a Michigan study noted a similar result in passing, but quickly explained it away as an artifact of the analysis procedure. We cannot so casually put this evidence aside.”

The author of the study concluded the report by saying “we are left with the fairly strong suggestion that nearby feedlots positively influences property values in Minnesota.”

Question
A lot is being said about the proximity of livestock and its impact on the health of people who live nearby, particularly related to air quality. Do you have any insight about this?
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Answer
Iowa has always been a leader in livestock farming. As a result, people have always lived and worked in close proximity to animal agriculture. However, it’s true that livestock farming, just like many other occupations, has changed. Today, we have fewer but larger farms in Iowa, meaning that livestock farmers must raise more livestock to remain viable. These larger hog and poultry barns, dairy parlors and beef feedlots must adhere to strict environmental and regulatory standards designed to protect the health and well being of neighbors and the families who care for them.

Perhaps an Iowa State University researcher said it best when asked about the correlation between modern livestock farms and the indoor air quality of neighboring residences.

“Contrary to some news headlines, the swine farms monitored in this study did not result in hydrogen sulfide nor ammonia levels considered to be a risk in relation to federally public guidelines,” said Dr. Steve Hoff. “It shows that just because you smell it, doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a health threat.”

Question
How do Iowa’s livestock and crop farms impact our economy?
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Answer
According to a 2005 ag economic impact study conducted by Iowa State University:
1. One of every four dollars (nearly $50 billion) of Iowa’s total industrial output is exported from the state as an agri-food product.
2. Farming employs one of every 10 Iowans (nearly 190,000) people. This total is equal to the combined population of eight Iowa cities: Newton, Marshalltown, Spencer, Ft. Dodge, Ottumwa, Creston, Cedar Falls and Mason City.
3. Agricultural production and food processing generates 8.22 percent of Iowa’s Gross State Product.
4. One of every eight dollars in personal income earned in Iowa is generated by the export of agri-food products.
5. Livestock accounts for nearly 50 percent of all farm cash receipts in Iowa (this totaled nearly $7 billion in 2006).

Question
I see a lot of new hog buildings being constructed. How many hogs do they typically house and what economic impact do they have for Iowa?
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Answer
Most new hog buildings constructed today are home to 1,200, 2,400 or 4,800 hogs. To best answer your question about their economic impact, let’s take a closer look at the 2,400-head building.

According to a 2006 analysis by Iowa State University’s Pork Industry Center, that 2,400-head facility is an economic powerhouse. Consider these facts:
1. The construction costs of one building is $528,000 (or $220 per pig space).
2. The swine farm generates an average of $112,000-$123,000 in gross revenues annually depending on whether the farmer manages the pigs or rents the building.
3. An estimated $270,000 in local economic activity is generated annually due to the multiplier effect of the annual expenditures of the swine farm.
4. The swine farm generates approximately $2,000 in local property taxes per year to support local schools and services.
5. Annually, the hog farm spends approximately $8,600 for utilities, $3,000 for insurance and $2,400 for maintenance and upkeep (all monies are spent locally).
6. Pig sales from the swine farm generate approximately $700,000 for the regional economy.
7. Indirect jobs supported in the local community by the swine farm include custom manure handling, insurance, banking, veterinary service, supplies and equipment repair and maintenance.
8. The swine farm provides local crop producers with a market for their corn and soybeans (utilizes approximately 640 acres of corn and soybean production annually).
9. Nutrients from the hog building provide the annual fertilizer requirements for approximately one section (640 acres) of land managed in a corn-soybean rotation.

Question
I’ve read that farming in Iowa creates around 200,000 jobs. What about the people who work on these farms? How much do they make?
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Answer
Research finds that more than 20,000 people make their living each year as full-time employees on Iowa’s farms. Iowa State University and the Iowa office of the National Ag Statistics Service conducted a survey in 2006 that found the average compensation paid to these employees in 2005 was $34,851, up from $26,914 in 1997 and $20,594 in 1990.

Approximately $28,275 (or 81 percent) of the $34,851 paid in 2005 represented cash wages. In addition, the average employee received fringe benefits valued at $5,374 and cash bonuses of $1,203. On an hourly basis, cash wages averaged $11.13 and total compensation averaged $13.52.

Total compensation was directly related to an employee’s level of education and steadily rose with the number of years of farm work experience the employees had.

Employees who had supervisory responsibilities tended to earn slightly more than their counterparts. Employees who specialized in beef production received the highest annual compensation while those who specialized in swine production were the most highly compensated per hour.