CHICAGO – For decades, Chuck Souder relied on corn and soybeans to keep his 400-acre Iowa farm running, but with corn selling for half its price two years ago and soybeans slumping, Souder has shifted to what he hopes will be a more profitable crop: Pigs.
Souder spent $850,000 last year to build a wean-to-finish barn, which can house nearly 2,500 animals at a time. He is not alone.
Since 2013, Iowa farmers have filed nearly 700 construction applications for new or expanded hog buildings, a six-fold increase from five years earlier, records show. Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois and other states are seeing a similar surge, said state agriculture officials.
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