By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa still leads the nation in corn, soybean, hog, egg, and ethanol and biodiesel production, as well as wind energy conversion, according to an annual report on the state’s agriculture industry.

“This book shows the incredible potential of the Iowa farmer to both feed and fuel a growing world,” said Craig Lang, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) president. “We lead the nation in corn, soybean and livestock production, as well as renewable energy production.

“Our state is the birthplace of an energy solution that will take us into the future – thanks to the innovation and imagination of the Iowa farmer,” he said.

Published (circa, 1973) by the IFBF, in association with the Iowa Agricultural Statistics Service and Iowa State University, the 2008 Facts on Iowa Agriculture book ranked Iowa as the number one state in national agriculture production.

The book, which is mainly generated for use by Iowa agricultural journalists, stated that Iowa led the nation in corn, soybean, hog and egg production in 2007.

Des Moines: No. 1 city in milk consumption per capita

It also ranked the Hawkeye State sixth in oats, seventh in all cattle, eighth in hay, ninth in sheep and lambs, 10th in turkeys raised and 12th in milk production (although the city of Des Moines ranks first in milk consumption per capita in the nation), with the output coming from Iowa’s 88,400 farms, which average 356 acres in size.

Released May 9, the book also stated that Iowa commodity prices increased in 2007, with corn at $3.37 per bushel and eggs at 77 cents per dozen, rising for the second straight year.

“Soybeans ($7.78 per bushel), beef cattle ($90.56 per cwt.), lambs ($94.67 per cwt.) and milk ($19.13 per cwt.) rebounded from price drops in 2006,” the book stated.

“Hog prices stayed relatively constant, rising to $48.44 per cwt., after price drops in 2005 and 2006.”

Inputs such as land increased as well last year, with Iowa farmland value spiking to 22 percent, to $3,908 per acre, the largest annual jump since 1976. According to the book, Iowa land prices have risen 88 percent during the past five years, benefiting current owners, but tightening the margin for renters and beginning farmers.

While Iowa’s net income and other input expenses haven’t been released for 2007, the report provided those numbers for 2006, which included livestock purchase, seed, fertilizer, fuel and oil, depreciation and property taxes/fees, contributing to a second consecutive drop in annual net income, to $36,962.

Despite that drop in income, Iowa agriculture’s debt-to-asset ratio was 11.4 percent in 2006.

The annual report also provided information on other areas, including national figures, agribusiness, renewable energy and conservation efforts in Iowa, with the amount of the state’s land in wetland restoration rising by nearly 4,000 acres, to 136,999 total acres, from 2006-07.

Iowa is research central for new forms of energy

As the nation’s leading agriculture state, Lang said Iowa is “research central” for new forms of energy production.

“The Iowa farmer has always met and exceeded production demands, and we continue to be poised to develop and capture new energy opportunities by combining what we know, with what we grow,” he said.

To date, 78 percent of the Iowa corn crop is planted, with the state expected to produce another bumper crop, despite planting delays due to excessive rainfall.

The USDA’s annual crop production report, released in January, also said Iowa remains the nation’s top corn and soybean producer, with state farmers producing 2.368 billion bushels of corn and 439 million bushels of soybeans.

In addition, the report said Iowa farmers harvested 13.85 million corn acres for grain after planting 14.2 million acres in 2007.
Iowa and U.S. corn farmers also increased their yield, with Iowa farmers having a statewide corn yield average of 171 bushels per acre compared to an average of 166 bushels in 2006 and 173 bushels in 2005.

Iowa is nation’s leading supplier of food and fiber

According to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, nearly 90 percent of Iowa’s land area – including 22 million acres of corn and soybean ground – is used to grow food and fiber, the most of any state in the nation.

Moreover, the state’s livestock industry is valued at nearly $8 billion, and Iowa’s crop and livestock farmers generated $19.6 billion in total ag receipts last year, ranking the state second nationally behind California, and Texas ranking third.

Despite the uncertainty of rising fuel, land and input prices, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said the state’s agricultural industry is the strongest in the nation.

“These are hard prices to get our heads around, let alone to get our businesses around,” said Northey, who still produces corn and soybeans on his farm in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

“But sometimes we as Iowans need to talk to other people to be reminded of just how fortunate we are.”