Farm Bureau stat book shows farm problem in black and white

The latest book of Iowa Agricultural Statistics published by the Iowa FarmBureau shows the changing face of agriculture in black and white. FarmBureau spokesman Aaron Putze says one of the telling stats is the age offarmers. The average age of an Iowa farmer in 1997 was 52 and a halfcompared to 50 in 1992 and just over 49 ten years ago.He says there are many reasons why the face of farming is getting older.Putze says the size of farms is increasing as the average farm is 340 acrescompared to 240 acres eight years ago. There are now 97-thousand farmscompared to 119-thousand in 1980.Putze says farmers have managed to adapt to changes in the industry.The Iowa Agricultural Statistics book is available through the Iowa FarmBureau.