Livestock and Poultry In Iowa
Author
Published
7/5/2022
Iowa farmers take care of a lot of livestock and poultry on their farms. Figure 1 shows the relative quantity of cattle (Beef cows, cattle on feed, and dairy cows), hogs (sows and market hogs), poultry (broilers, layers and turkeys), and other animals (sheep, goats, horses) measured in animal units1 (AUs) in each county in Iowa. In essence, one animal unit (AU) represents the equivalent of a 1,000-pounds of animal. On this basis, 200 chickens are the equivalent of 1 beef cow.
Northern Iowa tends to have more animal units than does southern Iowa and the highest concentration of animal units is in northwest Iowa. Based on the species included (cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, chickens and turkeys), Iowa typically has total of approximately 7.1 million animal units on its farms at any one time.
Figure 1. Animal Units in Iowa
Figure 2.Total Animal Units, Counties with 100,000 or More Animal Units
Figure 3. Total Animal Units, Counties with 50,000 to 99,999 Animal Units
Figure 4. Total Animal Units, Counties with 30,000 to 49,999 Animal Units
Figure 5. Total Animal Units, Counties with Less Than 25,000 Animal Units
The following maps show the relative number of animal units by species by county in Iowa and are based on the 2017 Census of Agricultural.
Figure 6. Beef Cow Animal Units
Iowa has 923,931 beef cow animal units. Ringgold county has the most beef cows with 26,646 animal units.
Figure 7. Cattle On Feed Animal Units
Iowa has 1,644,497 animal units of cattle on feed. Sioux County has 267,733 cattle on feed animal units.
Figure 8. Beef Cattle Animal Units
Iowa has a total of 2,568,428 beef animal units. Sioux County has 283,192 beef cattle animal units.
Figure 9. Dairy Cow Animal Units
Iowa has 313,011 dairy cow animal units. Sioux County has 50,673 dairy cow animal units.
Figure 10. Cattle Animal Units
Iowa has 2,881,439 cattle animal units. Sioux County has 333,865 cattle animal units.
Figure 11. Horse Animal Units
Iowa has 102,790 horse animal units. Decatur County has the most horse animal units with 4,762.
Figure 12. Sheep Animal Units
Iowa has 16,721 sheep animal units. Sioux County has the most sheep animal units with 1,883.
Figure 13. Goat Animal Units
Iowa has 8,163 goat animal units. Jones County has the most goat animal units with 11,093
Figure 14. Sow Animal Units
Iowa has 385,307 sow animal units. Hamilton County has the most sow animal units with 28,592.
Figure 15. Market Hog Animal Units
Iowa has 3,265,091 market hog animal units. Washington County has the most market hog animal units with 194,079.
Figure 16. Swine Animal Units
Iowa has a total of 3,650,398 swine animal units. Washington County has the most swine animal units with 209,307.
Figure 17. Broiler Animal Units
Iowa has 17,236 broiler animal units. Sioux County has the most broiler animal units with 5,618.
Figure 18. Layer Animal Units
Iowa has 282,774 layer animal units. Wright County has the most layer animal units with 37,708.
Figure 19. Turkey Animal Units
Iowa has 95,864 turkey animal units. Buena Vista County has the most turkey animal units with 20,319.
Figure 20. Poultry Animal Units
Iowa has 395,874 poultry animal units. Buena Vista County has the most poultry animal units with 39,053.
Figure 21. Total Animal Units
Iowa has 7,055,385 total animal units. Sioux County has the most total animal units with 555,803.
Economic analysis provided by David Miller, Consulting Chief Economist, Decision Innovation Solutions on behalf of Iowa Farm Bureau.
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