Known to produce one-tenth of the nation’s food supply, Iowa is the largest producer of corn (maize), soybeans, pork and eggs in the United States and second in red meat production. The top two commodities in cash receipts in Iowa in 2006 were corn (maize) at $4.2 billion and pigs at $4.15 billion. Total cash receipts for farm commodities in 2006 accounted for $15.1 billion. More than 2000 dairy farms with over 200,000 milk cows produced 4.1 billion pounds of milk in Iowa in 2006.

2006 Commodity Market in Iowa:

1^st in pork production - 17.2 million head

1^st in corn production - 12.4 million acres (5.02 million hectares) of corn harvested

2.05 billion bushels (52.1 million metric tons)

1^st in soybean production – 10.1 million acres (4.08 million hectares) harvested

510 million bushels (13.9 million metric tons)

1^st in egg production – 13.8 billion eggs produced

2^nd in red meat production – 6.54 billion pounds (2.97 million metric tons)

Sources: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship; Iowa State Dairy Association

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