If you take animals away, you don't need very many people. You don't need a town every seven miles. All you need are huge fields, a railroad, and an elevator. It is logical, then, that not only is Iowa number one in growing corn, it is also number one in raising hogs. One-third of Iowa's cash farm income comes from hogs.
Hogs sustain the state's economy.
The most value to the farmer comes when animals are raised on the same farm that produces the feed. But the number of farmers raising hogs has declined dramatically. From 1992 to 1997, the number of Iowa farmers raising hogs decreased by 46 percent. National statistics are similar. But while the number of farmers raising hogs has decreased, the number of hogs has not.