Iowa retains its title as pig producer for the nation, though the changing numbers show a shift in the industry. Bill Hamline with Nebraska’s Agricultural Statistics Service says the Hawkeye State’s the hog leader by a wide margin. On December 1, Iowa had 15.3 million head of hogs on feed, Nebraska had 2.9 million; Illinois a bit over 4 million; Minnesota 5.9 million, and North Carolina 9.6 million. Hamline says Iowa still has the greatest number of operations, which means they’re smaller than the average hog farm. Farmers and suppliers use the numbers to plan and make business decisions.
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