The state took over the top spot from Ohio this spring. The egg business is now high-tech.
Eggs roll right from the hen to a conveyor belt into a packaging or processing facility next door.
Machelle Shaffer of the Iowa Department of Agriculture says the state has about 32 million laying hens and produces 7.5 billion eggs each year. Iowa topped the nation in egg production in 1950, but by 1980, it had dropped to 12th place. Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.