Did you know that ... ?

  • If Iowa farmers supplied just 25 percent of the leaf lettuce eaten in Iowa (compared to less than 1 percent), annual sales would be about $9 million?
     

  • Iowans eat 25.9 million pounds of carrots each year, and only 5 percent are grown here.
     

  • Only nine Iowa counties produce 28,000 pounds of apricots (supplying only 7 percent of what Iowans eat), and nearly half are grown in Decatur and Dallas counties.
     

  • Linn County is a hub for blackberry production, supplying more than half of what's grown in Iowa.

  • Thirty percent (1.7 million pounds) of the 5.8 million pounds of green beans eaten every year by Iowans come from Iowa growers.
     

  • Iowans eat an estimated 8.3 million pounds of garlic each year but less than 1 percent (25,000 pounds) is grown here.
     

  • Iowa farmers would need to plant an additional 420 acres of potatoes to supply 25 percent of the state's fresh market demand for this crop.
     

Source: Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator, www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/calculator/home.htm


Back to Winter 2005 Leopold Letter


Published by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-3711
URL: www.leopold.iastate.edu