Iowa – Farming, Crops, Livestock – Britannica

Agriculture

Introduction

1. Agriculture has remained an important part of life in Iowa.
2. Agricultural production improved dramatically in Iowa in the 20th century.
3. Mechanization and the planting of hybrid crop species, as well as the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, contributed to the success in farm productivity.
4. However, this success led to lower commodity prices and fewer but larger farms.
5. Despite this, farms still made up the majority of Iowa land in the early 21st century.
6. However, fewer than one-tenth of Iowa’s workforce was actively involved in agricultural production.

Main Agricultural Products

• Iowa’s main agricultural products are corn (maize), soybeans, hogs, and cattle.
• Iowa ranks among the leading states in the production of these commodities.
• Viticulture is also of growing importance to the state, with hundreds of commercial vineyards.
• Much of Iowa’s agricultural production is exported, mainly to Canada, Mexico, and Japan.
• A large percentage of these exports is sent by rail and truck to the Mississippi River, where it is then transferred to barges for shipment to the Gulf of Mexico and then abroad.

Resources and Power

Extractive Production

• Extractive production in Iowa is limited to quarrying, cement, and gypsum.
• Coal-fired power plants produce more than four-fifths of the electricity generated in Iowa.
• Iowa is one of the top producers of ethanol in the country, with several ethanol plants located throughout the state.
• It is also a major producer of wind energy, with hundreds of wind turbines generating power.

Manufacturing

Overview

• Iowa is located on the western fringe of the American Rust Belt.
• Deere & Company, one of the world’s largest corporations in the manufacture of agricultural equipment, has plants in Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Ottumwa, and Waterloo.
• Seed grain operations and food processing remain important, particularly in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.
• Other manufactures include electrical appliances, motor homes, rolled aluminum, chemicals, and foodstuffs.

Services, Labour, and Taxation

Services

• Services are the dominant economic activity in Iowa, especially education, banking, and insurance.
• Des Moines, the state capital, is home to national corporations, banks, and publishing houses.
• The Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor is home to technology companies and research facilities affiliated with the University of Iowa.
• Agribusiness firms are prevalent throughout the state.

Tourism

• Tourism is important in Iowa.
• Some major attractions include Lewis and Clark State Park, Fort Madison, and the Grotto of the Redemption.
• Native American burial mounds are preserved in Effigy Mounds National Monument.
• Motion pictures, such as The Bridges of Madison County and Field of Dreams, have also attracted tourists to Iowa.
• The Iowa State Fair, held annually in August, is a major event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the state.

Taxation

• State sales taxes help provide for many public services in Iowa.
• Proceeds from gambling are another major source of revenue.
• Gambling options include riverboat casinos, gaming at Mesquakie, a lottery, and a racetrack in Altoona.

Transportation

Road Transportation

• Iowa has invested heavily in road transportation throughout the 20th century.
• Despite its modest size, it has more paved miles of road than most U.S. states.
• However, many of the state’s antiquated bridges are in need of repair.
• River transportation is largely limited to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, which serve as the main channels to transport grain.

Rail Transportation

• Iowa was once traversed by an intricate network of railways.
• However, the rail network has been drastically reduced since the late 20th century.
• Passenger traffic is limited to a single line, but about two-fifths of freight is still transported by rails that cross Iowa.

Air Transportation

• Iowa is centrally located in terms of U.S. air travel.
• Iowans can fly nonstop to nearby major cities including Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Denver.
• However, travel beyond those cities almost always requires a stop in one of them.
• The Des Moines International Airport is the state’s largest airport.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators in the Article

SDGs Addressed or Connected to the Issues Highlighted in the Article

1. SDG 2: Zero Hunger
2. SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
3. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
4. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
5. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
6. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
7. SDG 13: Climate Action
8. SDG 15: Life on Land

Specific Targets Based on the Article’s Content

• Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
• Target 7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
• Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labor-intensive sectors.
• Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.
• Target 11.2: By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities, and older persons.
• Target 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
• Target 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article

• Indicator 2.3.1: Volume of production per labor unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size.
• Indicator 7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption.
• Indicator 8.2.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person.
• Indicator 9.4.1: CO2 emission per unit of value added.
• Indicator 11.2.1: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities.
• Indicator 12.2.1: Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP.
• Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan that increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production.
• Indicator 15.2.1: Progress towards sustainable forest management.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: britannica.com