Farm Census

Sioux County, Iowa

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

1,672 farms485,793 acres in farms$2.34 billion in farm sales

Sioux County ranks sixth of 2,953 US counties for sales of livestock, poultry and their products in 2022.

Among counties with published figures, it also ranks fourth for hogs and pigs.

Within Iowa, no other county with a published figure has more farms, corn for silage, cattle and calves or milk cows.

Cattle and calves: 35.0%Cattle and calves35.0%Hogs and pigs: 32.1%Hogs and pigs32.1%Grains and oilseeds: 18.4%Grains and oilseeds18.4%Milk: 7.4%Milk7.4%Poultry and eggs: 6.0%Poultry and eggs6.0%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.6%Sheep and goats: 0.2%Hay and other crops: 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Other animals: under 0.1%Vegetables and melons: under 0.1%Fruit and nuts: under 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%Cattle and calves: 35.0%Cattle and calves35.0%Hogs and pigs: 32.1%Hogs and pigs32.1%Grains and oilseeds: 18.4%Grains and oilseeds18.4%Milk: 7.4%Milk7.4%Poultry and eggs: 6.0%6.0%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.6%Sheep and goats: 0.2%Hay and other crops: 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Other animals: under 0.1%Vegetables and melons: under 0.1%Fruit and nuts: under 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Cattle and calves$821 million1st of 85
Hogs and pigs$754 million1st of 91
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$432 million3rd of 99
Milk from cows$174 million1st of 33
Poultry and eggs$141 million3rd of 51
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$13.8 million1st of 43
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$3.7 million3rd of 85
Hay and other crops$3.5 million11th of 84
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$526,0009th of 68
Other animals and animal products$219,00018th of 58
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$137,00032nd of 67
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$128,00029th of 54
Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops$1,0005th of 5

What the fields held

Sioux County harvested 436,163 acres of cropland in 2022, fourth of 99 counties in Iowa. Corn for grain covered acreage equal to 51% of that, soybeans 38%.

CropAcresShare of US
Corn for grain221,8940.28%
Soybeans164,0310.19%
Corn for silage40,6680.68%
Hay and haylage9,200under 0.1%
Oats218under 0.1%
Vegetables39under 0.1%
of which potatoes3under 0.1%
Berries14under 0.1%
Orchard land9under 0.1%
of which apples6under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: grapes.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms98.9%

Sioux County ranks sixth of 99 counties in Iowa on this measure.

  • 454,943 acres of cropland, 94% of farmland
  • 14,377 acres of pastureland, 3% of farmland
  • 1,863 acres of woodland, 0% of farmland
  • 13,849 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Sioux County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 133 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 291 acres, 76th-largest of 99 in Iowa. The most common size class is 180–499 acres, with 25.1% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 6.2% of the total.

1–917%10–4916%50–17925%180–49925%500–99911%1,000–1,9995%2,000+1%
Sioux County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Hogs and pigs1,460,6972.0%
Cattle and calves381,6880.43%
Milk cows30,9590.33%
Sheep and lambs9,9060.19%
Beef cows16,8790.06%
Goats655under 0.1%
Horses and ponies528under 0.1%
Broilers sold in 20221,802,014under 0.1%
Turkeys31under 0.1%

Withheld: laying hens.

Who farms here

Decisions on Sioux County's 1,672 farms are made by 3,081 producers. Their average age is 53.7, 3.9 years below the Iowa average. Women are 29.5% of them.

Under 3514%35–4419%45–5417%55–6422%65–7420%75+8%
Sioux County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms1,724−3.0%
Land in farms, acres483,501+0.5%
Average farm size, acres280+3.9%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$1.70 billion+38.2%
Hogs and pigs, head1,259,133+16.0%
Corn for silage, acres44,909−9.4%
Cattle and calves, head418,058−8.7%
Milk cows, head36,195−14.5%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Sioux County accounts for 5.3% of farm sales in Iowa and 1.9% of the farms in Iowa. Rank Iowa counties for hogs and pigs.

Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.