Table 1. Historical Highlights: 2012 and Earlier Census Years 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
All farms 
2012 
2007 
2002 
1997 
Not adjusted for coverage 
1997 
1992 
1987 
1982 
Farms 
... number 
88,637 
92,856 
90,655 
96,705 
90,792 
96,543 
105,180 
115,413 
Land in farms 
acres 
30,622,731 
30,747,550 
31,729,490 
32,313,119 
31,166,699 
31,346,565 
31,638,130 
32,611,964 
Average size of farm 
acres 
345 
331 
350 
334 
343 
325 
301 
283 
Estimated market value of 
land and buildings 
Average per farm 
dollars 
2,207,220 
1,122,023 
707,730 
559,678 
566,587 
394,267 
283,597 
471,011 
Average per acre 
dollars 
6,389 
3,388 
2,005 
1,698 
1,697 
1,212 
947 
1,684 
Estimated market value of all 
machinery and equipment 1 
....$1,000 
18,954,910 
12,694,091 
8,923,379 
7,694,453 
7,318,851 
6,647,461 
5,543,375 
6,731,271 
Average per farm 
dollars 
213,856 
136,771 
100,422 
79,607 
80,651 
68,967 
52,844 
58,398 
Farms by size: 
1 to 9 acres 
6,707 
8,709 
4,811 
5,830 
5,049 
7,129 
7,974 
7,910 
1 0 to 49 acres 
20,665 
17,824 
16,278 
13,329 
11,580 
10,345 
10,981 
12,322 
50 to 1 79 acres 
22,788 
24,692 
24,250 
26,504 
24,525 
24,518 
27,556 
30,959 
180 to 499 acres 
18,654 
22,354 
24,719 
29,747 
28,918 
33,988 
39,071 
46,259 
500 to 999 acres 
11,581 
11,826 
13,063 
15,115 
14,833 
15,830 
15,874 
14,858 
1 ,000 to 1 ,999 acres 
6,589 
5,898 
6,213 
5,349 
5,114 
4,241 
3,401 
2,796 
2,000 acres or more 
1,653 
1,553 
1,321 
831 
773 
492 
323 
309 
Total cropland 
farms 
80,426 
82,785 
84,755 
87,946 
83,375 
88,224 
96,749 
106,859 
acres 
26,256,347 
26,316,332 
27,153,291 
27,713,041 
26,821,844 
27,195,676 
27,290,868 
27,580,749 
Harvested cropland 
farms 
63,214 
63,672 
67,338 
77,706 
74,951 
84,009 
92,878 
103,644 
acres 
24,507,219 
23,799,380 
23,994,343 
24,008,826 
23,323,249 
22,826,308 
20,484,178 
24,137,670 
Irrigated land 
farms 
1,525 
1,287 
976 
1,006 
957 
1,063 
851 
616 
acres 
171,656 
189,518 
142,109 
133,149 
124,983 
115,724 
92,247 
91,427 
Market value of agricultural 
products sold (see text) 
....$1,000 
30,821,532 
20,418,096 
12,273,634 
12,162,165 
11,947,894 
10,099,786 
8,926,799 
9,828,932 
Average per farm 
dollars 
347,728 
219,890 
135,388 
125,766 
131,596 
104,614 
84,872 
85,163 
Crops, including nursery 
and greenhouse crops 
....$1,000 
17,366,814 
10,343,585 
6,071,272 
6,381,676 
6,187,269 
4,641,155 
3,660,117 
4,143,086 
Livestock, poultry, and 
their products 
....$1,000 
13,454,718 
10,074,511 
6,202,362 
5,780,489 
5,760,625 
5,458,631 
5,266,682 
5,685,846 
Farms by value of sales 2 : 
Less than $2,500 
25,049 
26,730 
23,436 
16,945 
13,191 
7,636 
8,799 
8,092 
$2,500 to $4,999 
3,613 
3,986 
3,737 
4,995 
4,577 
4,753 
5,498 
5,535 
$5,000 to $9,999 
4,328 
5,100 
4,902 
6,060 
5,878 
7,030 
8,252 
8,230 
$10,000 to $24,999 
6,041 
6,663 
9,409 
10,860 
10,507 
13,820 
17,436 
17,531 
$25,000 to $49,999 
5,775 
7,514 
10,038 
11,797 
1 1 ,448 
14,852 
17,752 
20,458 
$50,000 to $99,999 
7,470 
9,805 
11,718 
14,231 
13,735 
17,570 
20,656 
25,735 
$100,000 to $499,999 
19,805 
23,580 
22,651 
27,758 
27,523 
28,595 
25,157 
28,128 
$500,000 or more 
16,556 
9,478 
4,764 
4,059 
3,933 
2,287 
1,630 
1,660 
Farms by legal status for tax 
purposes (see text): 
Family or individual 
74,673 
77,452 
78,699 
81,074 
75,880 
81,127 
89,188 
97,610 
Partnership 
4,986 
6,990 
5,792 
8,688 
8,231 
10,028 
1 1 ,088 
13,213 
Corporation 
7,189 
6,509 
5,279 
6,339 
6,128 
4,924 
4,404 
4,110 
Other-cooperative, estate 
or trust, institutional, etc 
1,789 
1,905 
885 
604 
553 
464 
500 
480 
Principal operator by days of work 
off farm 3 : 
None 
37,692 
35,689 
41,409 
42,311 
40,767 
47,557 
51,753 
55,958 
Any 
50,945 
57,167 
49,246 
49,474 
45,408 
42,672 
46,229 
48,480 
200 days or more 
33,610 
35,969 
33,651 
31,853 
28,673 
25,568 
25,928 
25,240 
Principal operator by primary occupation: 
Farming 
47,949 
48,637 
61,935 
58,124 
56,256 
66,885 
75,279 
86,041 
Other 
40,688 
44,219 
28,720 
38,581 
34,536 
29,658 
29,901 
29,372 
Average age of principal operator 
years 
57.1 
56.1 
54.3 
52.3 
52.4 
50.3 
49.3 
47.6 
Total farm production 
expenses 1 
....$1,000 
23,711,880 
15,443,759 
10,303,448 
8,677,056 
8,405,838 
7,744,947 
6,647,645 
(NA) 
Selected farm production 
expenses ': 
Livestock and poultry purchased 
or leased 
....$1,000 
3,435,345 
3,290,203 
1,854,227 
1,283,094 
1,260,448 
1,490,792 
1,358,161 
1,536,601 
Feed purchased 
....$1,000 
5,377,863 
3,058,988 
1,922,817 
1,604,170 
1,585,107 
1,317,636 
1,101,866 
1,214,715 
Fertilizer, lime, and soil 
conditioners purchased 4 5 
....$1,000 
2,587,059 
1,344,600 
665,890 
665,146 
636,785 
578,142 
467,355 
562,767 
Gasoline, fuels, and oils purchased 
....$1,000 
866,990 
666,373 
348,189 
364,116 
350,799 
379,607 
315,061 
536,937 
Hired farm labor 
....$1,000 
697,719 
492,091 
409,190 
327,812 
316,779 
259,210 
282,515 
222,146 
Interest expense 6 
....$1,000 
928,806 
762,070 
704,077 
624,048 
600,284 
593,994 
579,338 
101,556 
Chemicals purchased 4 
....$1,000 
1,152,179 
618,336 
464,509 
546,735 
521,566 
424,136 
309,894 
331,924 
Livestock and poultry: 
Cattle and calves 
inventory 
farms 
26,827 
29,690 
32,169 
39,795 
38,435 
43,610 
49,469 
62,412 
number 
3,893,683 
3,982,344 
3,535,945 
3,717,394 
3,647,129 
3,963,602 
4,303,682 
5,822,488 
Beef cows 
farms 
19,677 
20,809 
23,313 
28,385 
27,452 
29,987 
32,279 
41,117 
number 
885,568 
904,100 
987,670 
1,051,178 
1,029,172 
1,065,744 
1,123,745 
1,536,397 
Milk cows 
farms 
1,810 
2,390 
3,034 
4,272 
4,208 
5,878 
7,748 
10,485 
number 
204,757 
215,391 
206,965 
222,090 
222,142 
258,925 
294,888 
339,664 
Cattle and calves sold 
farms 
24,573 
27,535 
29,515 
39,728 
38,548 
43,780 
50,509 
62,765 
number 
3,446,109 
3,635,880 
2,929,704 
2,936,978 
2,881,122 
3,223,645 
3,539,020 
4,595,676 
Hogs and pigs inventory 
farms 
6,266 
8,330 
10,205 
17,585 
17,243 
31,790 
36,670 
45,768 
number 
20,455,666 
19,295,092 
15,486,531 
14,513,319 
14,651,919 
14,153,158 
12,983,074 
14,332,644 
Hogs and pigs sold 
farms 
6,616 
8,758 
1 1 ,275 
18,718 
18,370 
34,058 
38,638 
49,012 
number 
49,355,848 
47,279,443 
41,232,492 
27,340,921 
27,495,818 
26,812,736 
23,483,812 
23,801,117 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data Iowa 7 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
