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Aug 13, 2013 | by Christopher Doering Iowa farmers spent $26.84 billion on agricultural production in 2012, an increase of 11 percent from a year earlier, as agricultural producers battled through the worst drought in decades, the U.S. Agriculture Department said in a report. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said Iowa, the country’s largest corn, soybean and pork producer, had the biggest expenditures of any state in the Midwest and ranked second nationally to only California, where costs topped $31 billion in 2012. Iowa’s production costs totaled $24.2 billion in 2011. The biggest cost for Iowa farmers was feed, which increased nearly $500 million to $4.43 billion. The 2012 drought, the worst in 50 years, sharply cut crop yields and forced many livestock producers to cull their animals because of high feed costs. Farmers in the state also had $3.01 billion in livestock, poultry and related expenses, $2.55 billion in costs for fertilizer, lime and soil conditioners and $2.01 billion for seeds and plants. Rising farm land prices across the state also forced farmers to pay more to rent land. Rent for Iowa farmers increased to $3.74 billion from $3.45 billion in 2011. Farm land prices in Iowa have more than doubled since2007. Nationally, U.S. farmers spent a record $351.8 billion on agricultural production in 2012, an increase of 10.4 percent from $318.7 billion 2011, according to the USDA report. An average farm had costs of $162,743 compared to $146,653 in 2011. Continue reading →