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Census of Ag deep dive highlights value of Iowa agriculture

New data tied to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture highlights the vital role agriculture plays in Iowa’s economy.

Brian Waddingham with the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers says the study takes a deep dive into the census and what livestock and crop production means to the state.

“I think what really caught my attention was just how much agriculture drives the economy here in the state of Iowa. In 2022 agriculture contributed $159.5 billion to the state’s economy.”

He tells Brownfield that’s up 32 percent compared to the last Census of Agriculture in 2017.

“And that really caught my eye because we’ve had all kinds of weather events the last few years, we’ve had higher interest rates, lower prices paid for crops, but yet ag still continues on and upward.”

Waddingham says Iowa has bucked several national trends by increasing the number of farmers and the average size of farms between censuses.