Donnelle Eller

The Des Moines Register

IOWA FALLS, Ia. — On a sweltering morning, John Gilbert bottle-feeds calves with a small, converted bucket, while his 3-year-old granddaughter struggles to hold a wriggling kitten.

Two generations of Gilberts milk and care for nearly 100 Brown Swiss cows, nicknamed "the gals," raise pigs in a hoop barn and grow oats, alfalfa, corn and soybeans on 770 acres.

The extended-family farm operation is what many imagine is dotting Iowa's countryside — fathers and sons, husbands and wives, working together to raise animals, crops and kids.

But that picture is changing rapidly, as family-run midsized farms give way to bigger agriculture operations and smaller hobby acreages.

Farm consolidation has emptied out rural Iowa for decades. But the hollowing out of midsized farms places even more stress on the quality of life in rural and small-town Iowa.

As farm families dwindle, so do shops, schools and doctors' offices. And small factories, long a companion to farms as the lifeblood of the rural economy, locate elsewhere in search of workers.

“In two or three generations, midsized farms will be greatly diminished,” said David Peters, an Iowa State University rural sociologist. “A small number of farms will provide the vast-majority of commodities.”

The trend has already taken root: Roughly one-quarter of Iowa's 88,000 farms controlled nearly 70 percent of its cropland and drove 80 percent of the state's agricultural sales, which totaled $31 billion in 2015, Peters' research shows.

About half of Iowa's farms are small hobby farms, clustered around urban areas, where owners commute to full-time jobs.

Most vulnerable are the farms in the middle, growing crops on 800 to 1,000 acres. They're relying most heavily on debt to make it through the recent downturn, and they're at greatest risk of being squeezed out in coming years, experts say.

Large farms "have deep pockets," Peters said. "They make phenomenal profits. They can tap the scale of how many acres they operate. They have collateral. They can take out loans to ride out downturns in the economy."

With the farms in the middle, "a few bad years can put them out of business," he said.

Even though they're financially solid, the Gilberts say they feel the impact of consolidation.

Son John C. Gilbert, 37, sees his friends struggle to begin farming, given high land prices. He also sees the consequences in the dwindling number of children at the family's church.

"People our age have to overcome a lot of hurdles to begin farming," with only those "persistent and stubborn enough" succeeding, he said, adding that he and his wife, Sarah, are fortunate they could join his parents' farming operation.

'Consumed by bigness'

Technology — from improved seed genetics that have helped double yields over four decades to tractors that can drive themselves while collecting production data — has helped make farming safer and more productive and has introduced environmentally friendly practices such as precision fertilizer application.

But it's also contributed to consolidation. Bigger, more sophisticated equipment enables fewer farmers to raise more crops on more land.

Iowa lost 24,600 farms from 1982 to 1997, with 10,000 farms disappearing during the 1980s Farm Crisis alone.

Since then, the state has lost another 8,000 farms, the 2012 U.S. Agriculture Census shows, the most recent data available.

Iowa's rural population shrank along with the farms, losing about 112,000 residents from 1980 to 1990. The bleeding slowed to nearly 31,000 through 2010, U.S. Census data shows.

But the effect has been devastating for many rural communities.

"Schools are gone. Businesses are gone. In a lot of places, you have to drive 50 miles to see a doctor or wait 20 minutes for an ambulance because communities can only afford one ambulance for two or three counties," said Marvin Shirley, who farms near Minburn in Dallas County.

MORE: Iowa has lost 4,300 schools since 1950

Shirley worries that farming will continue to consolidate until "we have one farmer per township," growing crops on thousands of acres.

"We're not quite there yet, but we're getting close in some places," said Shirley, who believes federal farm policy helps big farmers get bigger by subsidizing their risk through crop insurance.

"We're consumed by bigness," said Shirley, who farms with his son-in-law, raising crops and cattle on about 1,500 acres that includes pastureland.

"It's always a worry and concern whether we'll be able to compete with everybody," he said.

Shirley fears the consolidation that's taken place in pork and poultry production is working its way into cattle.

Worrying over 'mega farms'

Bill Northey, the state's agriculture secretary, agrees that consolidation puts "real pressure on resources," as residents drive miles for off-farm jobs, groceries and schools.

"When you're able to farm more land, it means you don't have a farm or a family and school bus stop on every quarter-section," Northey said.

But "wringing your hands" about farms getting larger fails to tell the whole story about Iowa agriculture, he said.

"We have a lot of farms with four or five family members that gross a lot of money, but they're not what folks consider" large corporate farms, Northey said.

"They've created efficiencies by working together," he said, sharing expensive equipment and labor and increasing buying power for seed and chemicals.

Peters agreed. In 2015, Iowa had about 200 very large corporate farms — many of them animal operations — that netted about $3 million per operation.

But another 16,200 midsized, family-run commercial farms earned $108,000 per operation; and nearly 26,000 operations earned a much smaller $35,000.

"Those corporate-owned farms, 'mega farms' really, are the exception, not the rule," Peters said.

Jobs in town dwindle

The impact of technology, and the increased efficiencies that come with it, will likely continue to grow, farm leaders say.

"Margins are slim, so we'll always be looking for ways to do more with less," said Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

It's a trend that been going on for decades, ever since John Deere's early tractor production "forever changed the landscape and direction of agriculture to make it more efficient," said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group, a massive animal and crop production, investment and farm management business based in Alden, Iowa.

"It lowered food costs, produced healthier food, and better protected the environment. … It's something we can manage in a positive way," Rastetter said.

He points out that less than 10 percent of Americans' disposable income goes to food, the lowest percentage in history.

Technology also makes food more available globally, he said.

"When you go to Brazil, it's American technology that's driving agriculture — it's Deere, it's Case IH, Monsanto, DuPont — it's technology developed here, and often in Iowa, that feeds the world," he said.

Rastetter and John Lawrence, interim vice president for ISU Extension and Outreach, say manufacturing job losses play as big a role in rural Iowa's struggles as farm consolidation.

Iowa shed 10,000 manufacturing jobs from 2008 to 2015, a statewide decline of 4.3 percent. Rural areas suffered losses of nearly 8 percent, ISU data shows.

Experts say massive investment in technology cranked up productivity with fewer workers. Rastetter and others blame NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement — for making it too easy for companies to take factory jobs to countries with cheaper labor, even while it broadly benefited agriculture.

"We recently went to a demonstration of a driverless tractor that can pull a grain cart next to a combine," Rastetter said. "We'll continue to see those advancements.

"The question is: Will we manufacture them here? Or will we export that technology?" he said. "Those are the questions I think we ought to be asking ourselves."

'A higher level of sophistication'

Next-generation technologies can help alleviate consumer concerns about agriculture, said Northey, Iowa's ag secretary.

For example, DuPont Pioneer says leading-edge CRISPR-Cas technology will enable the Johnston-based seed company to "precisely improve a plant without incorporating DNA from another species," easing concerns about genetically modified crops.

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Big data also will help farmers make better decisions about raising crops and animals. And it will give food processors and shoppers more information about production conditions, addressing consumers' growing desire to know where their food comes from and how it's grown.

"We'll have a higher level of sophistication in collecting data around our farms, especially around livestock," Hill said.

"Everything you applied during production will be tabulated by somebody," he said.

Making ends meet

Gilbert said his family has chosen to farm their land more intensively, adding high-value animals rather than chasing more land.

It's a treadmill that's hard to get off, said Gilbert, who also farms with his brother.

"Commodity prices will eventually equal production costs, so you always have to produce more," he said, especially as big equipment makes it easier for farmers around the world to grow more crops.

The family's path isn't always easy.

They sell their pigs to Niman Ranch, a company that's carved a niche with top restaurants that want humanely and sustainably raised meats.

Gilbert's pigs, raised without antibiotics, race across the deep-bedded hoop building, when he shows up to spray them with water to help keep them cool.

The family's dairy is the last one in Hardin County. Their milk goes to an Illinois cooperative, but they worry it will some day decide it's not worth the trip every other day.

Sarah Gilbert handles the twice-daily milkings. She and husband, John C., say they may need to consider processing the milk themselves if the co-op decides against making the trip.

That would demand a large investment, many more employees and selling products directly to customers.

Rural Iowa's bread and butter

Some Iowans see the growth of small farms — including popular fruit, vegetable and flower growers — as helping to revitalize rural Iowa.

But many of the small farms, with owners raising horses or cattle for fun, are near big cities or nearby small towns, where full-time jobs that provide the bulk of owners' income.

Similarly, vegetable and fruit growers also want to be close to cities and towns, to market their produce and to supplement their incomes with jobs there.

Less than $20,000 of a small farm's typical $116,000 annual income comes from farming, Peters' research shows.

That's why farmers in the middle are considered rural Iowa's bread and butter. They're "the ones that maintain rural populations and vitality," Peters said.

Off-farm income is also vital to midsized farms, providing nearly 1.5 times the farm income, adding roughly $50,000 to $143,000 to the family's earnings.

State and federal leaders could more effectively support "rural development" by tackling economic development in places such as Mason City, Ottumwa and Clinton, Peters said.

Those struggling regional centers have higher unemployment and poverty rates than growing metro areas.

Rural families are "working at the hospitals, the schools, the manufacturers," he said. "Having that non-farm economy is critical."

Cheap food rules

Despite growing consumer interest, fruit and vegetable growers struggle to post profits, said Sally Worley, executive director of Practical Farmers of Iowa, a group that supports growers as they add and test conservation practices such as cover crops to make agriculture more sustainable.

"It's still a real challenge," Worley said, even with more business-savvy farmers and growing infrastructure such as farmers markets, subscription food programs and "food aggregators" who buy food from several small growers to sell to large groceries.

A big hurdle to profits: Consumers say they want locally produced vegetables, eggs and meat, but often buy cheaper products from national growers.

"Someone interested in local eggs may not be willing to spend $5 a dozen versus the 69-cent sale I saw at Hy-Vee last week," Worley said, "Or spend $4 a pound on tomatoes at the farmers market when it's probably double what you'd spend at the grocery store.

"Our system touts cheap food and has held that up as a priority," she said. "So we may need to retrain and reprioritize where we want to spend our money."

'Sometimes you have to take a risk'

Jenny Quiner and her husband, Eric, decided to go "all-in" when they built Dogpatch Urban Gardens, where she grows vegetables on less than half an acre about a mile from Des Moines' busy Merle Hay Road.

In just two years, the couple built a garden, a hoop building to help extend the growing season and a "farm stand" — a large metal building where Jenny Quiner, 33, processes and sells her produce as well as selling cheese, milk, ice cream and meat from other farmers.

The former teacher decided she wanted to grow nutritious food without using chemicals and be close to consumers. The couple tapped savings for a home addition to help pay for the project.

"It was a huge risk," she said.

Now she's providing about25 families each week with vegetables such as kale, arugula, spinach, carrots, turnips, beets and cucumbers.

She expects to begin turning a profit in three years.

"We had no experience. But sometimes you have to take a risk and see where it goes," Quiner said.

"I truly love it," she said. "It makes me happy. I'm doing the right thing."

Join the discussion

Join a Facebook Live chat at noon Monday to discuss the challenges midsized farms and rural Iowa face. Engagement and opinion editor Lynn Hicks will moderate the discussion. Also participating will be David J. Peters, associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University, who researches regional and rural development. Have a question you want addressed during the chat? Email Hicks at lhicks@registermedia.com.

'Changing Iowa' at the fairs

The Des Moines Register is joining with the Iowa Rural Development Council to put on a series of free events around the state looking at how our state is changing, including demographically, culturally and economically.

We invite you to attend and share your ideas on how to create a bold vision for growth for the state. Here’s a peek at our initial events:

Iowa State Fair, at the Register’s Soapbox stage, in front of the Service Center, on the Grand Concourse:

Friday, Aug. 18, 1 p.m.: Iowa Columnist Kyle Munson will interview young Iowans about their thoughts on making a life and a career in the state.

Saturday, Aug. 19, 1 p.m.: Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor and U.S. secretary of agriculture, will discuss rural development and agriculture policy.

Clay County Fair, Grand Ballroom: