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Iowa’s livestock sector has grown and changed over the past four decades. In the 1970s, most livestock were raised on smaller family farms with fewer hired workers. By the late 1990s, production shifted to one reliant on many hired wage workers in larger facilities. This bulletin answers a few key questions: How fast has wage-labor livestock production grown? Have certain commodities grown faster or slower? What is the average firm size? Have wages been growing or declining? What are the trends in meatpacking? To answer these questions, I compiled data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on wage-labor (hired workers who are paid a wage) back to 1975. For more information, see the methods section at the end of the bulletin.

Livestock Production Trends

In 2025, there were 462 hog production firms employing workers, with large gains occurring in the 1990s (up 570% since 1995). Since 2015, hog production businesses have fallen by 11.8% statewide. Dairy and milk production firms had fast gains in the late 1990s, growing to 161 firms by 2025 (up 571% since 1995). However, few new firms have been added since 2015. Cattle production facilities are up 533% since 1985, doubling numbers in the 2000s and 2010s. Poultry and egg production has always had a presence in Iowa, with firms rising to 107 in 2025 (up 143% since 1975, up 46% since 1995, and up 12.6% since 2015).

Jobs in livestock production include people who are hired and paid wages, typically workers, managers, and office and technical support staff.  It typically does not count the farm or business owner.  Wage workers in hog production accelerated rapidly in the 1990s, growing 205% since 1995 to 4,517 employees today – although jobs shrank by 4.5% since 2015.  Employment in poultry/egg production has seen uninterrupted job growth since 1995, growing by 204% to 3,643 positions today.  Even during the last ten years, poultry saw job gains of 27.7%.  The dairy/milk sector also saw tremendous gains in wage workers since 1995, leaping from 155 workers to 2,282 by 2025.  Cattle production employs 571 people today, which is a gain of 230% since 1995, and a gain of 7.5% since 2015.

Most livestock production facilities are small businesses employing fewer than 50 workers.  Poultry/egg facilities are the largest at 34 workers per firm, and firm size grew sizably during the 2000s and in the 2020s.  Dairy/milk facilities employ about 14 people per firm, and saw a sharp expansion in the late 1990s, but since then firm size has remained stable.  Cattle and hog production firms have about 6 to 10 workers, which has been stable since 2010.

Average annual wages per job, adjusted for inflation, have been rising since 1995 across all production sectors.  Poultry/egg workers earn the highest at $61,432, up 147% since 1975, up 77.9% since 1995, and up 11.3% since 2015.  Hog workers earn $53,562, but wage gains have been slower at 55.3% since 1975, 39.9% since 1995, and 14.4% since 2015.  In the cattle sector, pay is $52,338 and has risen by 54.6% since 1975, 42.2% since 1995, but only 6.2% since 2015.  Dairy/milk workers earn the lowest at $48,350, but wage growth has been solid, growing by 72.8% since 1975, 54.1% since 1995, and 13.4% since 2015.  Note that wages per job could rise for several reasons: (i) higher hourly pay, (ii) more hours worked with no rise in hourly pay, or (iii) a combination of the two.

Meatpacking Trends

In Iowa, there are 101 meatpacking plants, down from a high of 130 firms in the late 1990s.  Prior to the Farm Crisis in the 1980s, packers employed between 275 to 300 workers across roughly 80 plants.  Starting in 1985, the number of packers increased as the number of jobs fell.  By the 2010s, the size of meatpacking plants had increased, reaching a peak of 267 in 2020, then falling to 224 workers per plant today.

Employment in the meatpacking industry has had ups and downs over the past 50 years.  Jobs are only 1.1% higher today than in 1975, but this masks swings in the industry.  There were job losses of 17.8% between 1995-2025, but job gains of 14.4% over the last ten years from 2015-2025.  Meatpacking workers earned $61,400 per job during 2025, but this is slightly lower (1.7%) than earnings of workers in 1975 adjusting for inflation.  However, wages are nearly 40% higher today than in 1995, and workers have seen paychecks grow by nearly 10% over the past decade.  Note that wages per job could rise for several reasons: (i) higher hourly pay, (ii) more hours worked with no rise in hourly pay, or (iii) a combination of the two.

Methods and Contact Information

Data are from the QCEW (Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages) produced by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Wages are inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars using PCE indices produced by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Data are by calendar year, but 2025 is a forecast using the first three quarters.  Economic sectors are defined using NAICS and SIC industry codes.  There is a break between 2000 and 2005 when the US government switched from SIC to NAICS that may affect comparisons between those two years.  Industry Definition: Cattle Feedlots (NAICS:112112 / SIC:0211); Dairy/Milk (NAICS:112120 / SIC:0241); Hogs/Pigs (NAICS:112200 / SIC:0213); Poultry/Egg (NAICS:112300 / SIC:0250); and Meatpacking (NAICS:311610 less 311612 and 311613 / SIC:2010).

Analysis and writing by:
Dr. David Peters, Professor of Agricultural and Rural Policy
email: dpeters@iastate.edu | tel. 515-294-6303