1997 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE HIGHLIGHTS OF AGRICULTURE: 1997 AND 1992 VAN BUREN COUNTY, IOWA Item ALL FARMS 1997 1992 Farms .........................number.. 807 752 Land in farms ..................acres.. 257 227 241 422 Average size of farm .......acres.. 319 321 Value of land and buildings@1: Average per farm .........dollars.. 240 446 217 531 Average per acre .........dollars.. 851 699 Estimated market value of all machinery and equipment@1 Average per farm .........dollars.. 49 516 35 967 Farms by size: 1 to 9 acres ........................ 24 35 10 to 49 acres ...................... 87 73 50 to 179 acres ..................... 257 234 180 to 499 acres .................... 284 268 500 to 999 acres .................... 113 107 1,000 acres or more ................. 42 35 Total cropland .................farms.. 740 685 acres.. 171 564 169 302 Harvested cropland ...........farms.. 622 636 acres.. 114 335 108 272 Irrigated land .................farms.. 3 10 acres.. 13 59 Market value of agricultural products sold................$1,000.. 43 027 36 654 Average per farm .........dollars.. 53 318 48 742 Crops, including nursery and greenhouse crops............$1,000.. 24 741 17 244 Livestock, poultry, and their products....................$1,000.. 18 287 19 410 Farms by value of sales: Less than $2,500 .................... 206 114 $2,500 to $4,999 .................... 70 76 $5,000 to $9,999 .................... 89 82 $10,000 to $24,999 .................. 137 165 $25,000 to $49,999 .................. 98 118 $50,000 to $99,999 .................. 89 100 $100,000 or more .................... 118 97 Total farm production expenses.$1,000.. 31 529 27 163 Average per farm .........dollars.. 39 167 36 073 Operators by principal occupation: Farming ............................. 391 412 Other ............................... 416 340 Operators by days worked off farm: Any ................................. 500 406 200 days or more ................... 349 267 Livestock and poultry: Cattle and calves inventory...farms.. 450 451 number.. 30 669 29 600 Beef cows ..................farms.. 394 400 number.. 15 319 14 465 Milk cows ..................farms.. 30 42 number.. 941 737 Cattle and calves sold .......farms.. 458 445 number.. 16 083 14 717 Hogs and pigs inventory ......farms.. 82 158 number.. 43 971 70 950 Hogs and pigs sold ...........farms.. 84 172 number.. 90 203 137 386 Sheep and lambs inventory ....farms.. 62 98 number.. 3 548 4 851 Layers and pullets 13 weeks old and older inventory.............farms.. 23 34 number.. 1 036 5 353 Broilers and other meat-type chickens sold...............farms.. 4 1 number.. 248 (D) Selected crops harvested: Corn for grain or seed .......farms.. 396 463 acres.. 44 270 44 565 bushels.. 5 537 637 5 768 183 Corn for sil or green chop....farms.. 46 65 acres.. 966 1 034 tons, green.. 21 089 13 811 Wheat for grain ..............farms.. 13 73 acres.. 232 1 510 bushels.. 8 088 65 243 Oats for grain................farms.. 71 98 acres.. 1 163 1 612 bushels.. 71 813 68 263 Soybeans for beans ...........farms.. 365 381 acres.. 44 647 36 824 bushels.. 2 043 426 1 511 190 Hay-alf, other, wild, silage..farms.. 475 489 acres.. 25 354 24 723 tons, dry.. 64 850 56 798 @1Data are based on a sample of farms. Legend: (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms (X) Not applicable (Z) Less than half the unit shown (NA) Not available Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1 Geographic Area Series, "Table 1. County Summary Highlights: 1997." This electronic series presents summary statistics for each county and State together with comparable data from the 1992 census. The items included are the same for all States and counties, except selected crops harvested, which vary by State. Data for 1997 and 1992 are directly comparable for acreage and inventories. Dollar values have not been adjusted for changes in price levels. You can obtain the Volume 1 Geographic Area Series from the National Technical Information Service. If you have any questions concerning the data in this report or need additional information or order forms for agriculture publications, please call the National Agricultural Statistics Service at 1-800-523-3215 or 1-800-727-9540.