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Livestock a great entry point for new farmers

A Farm Bureau official says more young people are beginning careers in agriculture through livestock.

Iowa Farm Bureau vice president Joe Heinrich of Maquoketa tells Brownfield the hog industry in his state is growing because of new farmers.

“That’s a way to generate income without expanding.  In our case, we look at the dairy because we could expand the dairy and not have to increase our land base.  It comes back to that value-added (process) of what you can do without having to increase land base, because that’s the limiting factor.”

He says that’s especially true as agriculture becomes increasingly mechanized, allowing fewer people to do more work.

“Livestock is always going to be the staple in this state because people like their meat, they like their protein.  And around the world, if we can continue to increase export markets, we’re a great place to grow it.  Because we have the products here.”

He encourages the next generation of farmers to promote agriculture and share their stories in hopes of educating the public about modern practices.

Brownfield interviewed Heinrich during Iowa Farm Bureau’s 99th annual meeting in Des Moines in early December.

 

 

 

 

 

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