Iowa Farm Animals

In 2005, livestock receipts totaled $7.95 billion dollars and grain receipts totaled $6.67 billion.

Beef

Cattle are found all around the state, but different types of cattle are raised in different parts of the state. There are dairy operations in northeast Iowa, cow-calf operations in southern Iowa, as well as cattle feeding in northwest and eastern Iowa. Approximately 25-31,000 Iowa farms have at least a few cattle. In 2006, Iowa ranked 7th in cattle production with approximately 3.80 million. For more information, visit the Iowa Beef Industry Council.

Dairy Cows/Milk

As of 2006, there were approximately 4,000 farms with a total of 194,000 dairy cows in Iowa. In 2006, they produced a total of approximately 4.13 billion pounds of milk. A dairy cow produces more than 20,000 pounds of milk per year. Each cow provides 8 gallons of milk every day. Iowa has approximately 28 processing facilities. Six facilities package milk, five make ice cream and frozen desserts, and the rest produce products such as cheese, cottage cheese and cultured products. In 2006, Iowa was ranked 12th in the nation in milk production.

Laying Hens/Eggs

As of 2006, Iowa ranked 1st in egg production. Iowa's 48.8 million laying hens produce approximately 13.811 billion eggs per year. Iowa has a more than 80 egg producers. Of the shell eggs produced in the United State in 2001, 30% were further processed (for foodservice, manufacturing, retail & export), 58.3% went to retail, 11.2% went for foodservice use and 0.8% were exported. Top markets for US table egg exports are China and Hong Kong. For more information, visit the Iowa Egg Council.

Pork

The areas of the state with the largest number of hogs are northwest Iowa, north central, northeast, east central and southeast. Iowa leads the nation in pork production, producing 24% of all U.S. pork production, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Approximately 8,900 Iowa farms had hogs at some time during the year 2005. In 2005, Iowa ranked number one for total number of hogs with 16.5 million. For more information, visit the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

Sheep

Iowa sheep are located in northwest, southeast, northeast and central Iowa. Sheep markets tend to form around active local sales barns such as those found in Colfax, Kalona and Manchester. Iowa Lamb, one of top 5 lamb processing plants is located in Hawarden in the northwest corner of the state. In 2006, Iowa ranked 8th in sheep/lamb production with 235,000.

Turkey

Turkey producers are located in the northwest, northeast, central and southeast parts of Iowa. A typical turkey farm in Iowa raises 50,000 turkeys every year. In 2005, Iowa ranked 9th in turkey production with 9.6 million birds. There are approximately 125 turkey growers in Iowa and 3 plants that process turkeys. The processing plants are Bil-Mar Foods in Storm Lake, Iowa Turkey Products in Postville and West Liberty Foods in West Liberty. Iowa's turkey processors process over 11 million birds annually.