The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

We celebrated National Agriculture Week last month on the heels of a new industry census, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issues every five years. The report spotlights short-term trends, with USDA’s latest survey covering 2017 through 2022. It also contextualizes long-term themes: How does today’s farm landscape measure against those of decades past? This year’s census data offered a window into an ever-widening gap – one an Iowa State University economist dubbed “the disappearing middle.”

Iowa’s family farmers, regardless of how much land they own, all proudly put in the work...