I often hear people spouting off how much hog manure is produced on family livestock farms and making outlandish claims on how it is used. I’ve decided it’s high time we all consider new, factual sources to shed some light on the subject.

According to Iowa State University (ISU), pigs, cattle and poultry in Iowa produce a combined 50 million tons of manure every year. Although a figure like that on its own sounds like an exceptional amount, per ISU researchers, 50 million tons is only enough to fertilize 17 percent of Iowa’s cropland!

For some reason, people who are opposed to advances in agriculture like to focus on pig...