Agriculture in Transition

In many respects, agriculture has been in a continual state of transition since the early 20th Century, when changes in technology and infrastructure began to spur unprecedented shifts in farm structure and demographics and transformed the US from a predominantly rural society to an urban one in a matter of decades.  At the outset of the 1900s, more than one-third of the US population resided on around six million farms, another one-third lived in rural areas, and the remainder lived in urban centers.  By 2000, the number of farms had decreased to just over 2 million, the farm population had declined to two percent of the US total, and rural residents comprised only 21 percent of the nation’s population.   Because the amount of farmland in the US has remained relatively stable, average farm size has increased accordingly, from 150 acres at the turn of the century to 470 acres in 2004.

While much of the US population has become predominantly urban, Iowa is still largely rural, with about 40 percent of its population residing in rural areas, including the approximately six percent of Iowa residents who live on farms.  The relative importance of agriculture to Iowa is high compared to other states; in 2002, agricultural production and food processing generated over eight percent of Iowa’s Gross State Product, the highest proportion of any state.

Despite the relative vitality of Iowa agriculture, the sector has followed the same consolidation trends noted above.  As in the rest of the country, the number of Iowa farms has declined steadily, from around 200,000 in 1950 to approximately 89,000 in 2006.  As the land base used for agriculture has remained relatively steady (32 million acres in 2002, representing 86 percent of all Iowa land), farm size has also increased, from around 170 acres in 1950 to 350 acres today.  On the whole, Iowa agriculture has become highly specialized.  Corn and soybeans dominate the landscape – of approximately 24.5 million acres of land planted to crops in 2006, some 22.5 million were in corn and beans.  Iowa is the nation’s top producer of hogs, most of them raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Alternative Agricultural Systems

Not all farmers in Iowa are participating in the trends toward consolidation and specialization.  Many Iowa farmers are bucking these trends and building diversified farm operations that employ innovative alternative production and marketing practices that are proving to be resilient and profitable.  Through strategies such as producing for farmers markets and other retail outlets or adding value through processing or management, such farmers are retaining a larger share of the food dollar and helping to develop local food production and consumption networks.  Extension Sociology partners with farmers and organizations such as the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Practical Farmers of Iowa to support efforts that strive to ensure that Iowa agriculture is environmentally sound, economically profitable, and socially just.  

Biorenewable Fuels

Iowa is the largest ethanol producer in the US.  At nearly 3.5 billion gallons capacity, Iowa ethanol production is nearly double that of Nebraska, the second leading US producer.  Some 550 million bushels of Iowa corn – 25 percent of the state’s corn crop -  are fermented into ethanol.  Iowans’ have great hopes for positive impacts from biofuels development as well as practical concerns about possible negative outcomes of such growth.  Through the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll and other research efforts we are helping Extension to keep abreast of the social and environmental dimensions of biorenewable fuels initiatives.

Conservation

Establishment of conservation practices on agricultural land has long been a priority for many Iowa farmers and government and non-governmental conservation organizations.  Iowa has made significant strides in conservation over the past several decades.  In many areas of the state soil erosion has been reduced and wildlife habitat has increased in both quantity and quality, especially in riparian areas.  Nevertheless, soil erosion remains above “tolerable” levels across the state, and soil, water, and wildlife habitat quality are still areas of major concern.  Extension sociology provides research support to farmers and landowners, community initiatives such as watershed groups, government agencies including the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and non-governmental organizations working to increase conservation behavior across the state.

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