Iowa farmers are growing more organic corn, soybeans, hay and oats, driving a 30% spike in the state’s organic acres over the past three years, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture report shows.

Iowa had 779 certified organic farms last year with 133,691 acres. Those figures include 47 more farms and 30,555 more acres than recorded in 2016, the year covered by the most recent previous survey.

Iowa now ranks sixth nationally for the number of organic farms, the report says. The state leads the nation in producing organic corn and soybeans, at 13% and 15% of the total, respectively, and provided 30% of the organic oats produced nationally, the report shows.

The state’s growth in organic acres and farms is good for the environment and good for rural Iowa, Paul Mugge, who grows organic corn and soybeans in Northwest Iowa, told the Des Moines Register.

Read the full article on the Sioux City Journal website.