DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release its Census of Agriculture, a detailed report released every five years that lists the number of farms, how many acres are farmed, the number of farmers and their average age and many other statistics.
The last report released in 2007 revealed that the number of Iowa farms had increased 2 percent from 2002 to 2007 to more than 92,800. The average farm size was lower and total acres of land farmed fell 3 percent.
Iowa ranked first in the nation in 2007 in production of hogs, corn, soybeans and third in the nation for the value of agriculture products sold.
The report to be released Thursday morning is used in evaluating and implementing agriculture policies and programs.
