The 2020 Land Investment Expo was held on Tuesday in Des Moines. There was a huge turnout to hear the information presented and learn about what we can do better in 2020. Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Hill gave the welcome and highlighted some of the numbers that show Iowa continues to lead the way in agriculture, even after a difficult year.
2019 gave us heavy rains, delayed planting and heavy floods on the major rivers on our eastern and western borders. However, the numbers show Iowa still led the country in corn production for the 26th straight year.
If Iowa was a country, we would be the 4th largest producer of corn in the world and the 4th largest producer of soybeans. Iowa is doing this with less environmental impact than many countries.
And that is just the numbers on grain. We continue to outpace the rest of the United States in pork, eggs, and biofuels.
We have done all this despite being in the bottom half of state size and population. We have managed to accomplish this under adverse conditions in both weather and markets.
After a very tough 2019, Iowa farmers have a lot to be proud of.
