Iowa lost more than 2,500 farms in the past five years and the average age of farmers continued to climb, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2017 ag census released last week.

The census also revealed the impact of declining crop prices over the past five years as the value of agricultural products sold by Iowa farmers totaled $29 billion, down 6 percent or $1.87 billion from the 2012 census. Still, the state ranked second nationally for total value of agricultural products sold in 2017, trailing only California and ahead of Texas, Nebraska and Kansas in the top 5.

“This data gives us a valuable snapshot of the crop and livestock production happening in Iowa, and it reaffirms that agriculture is vital...