For every hog farrowed, finished and marketed, $74 to $76 goes back to the community, says John Lawrence, Iowa State University economics professor.
Lawrence derives those figures from use of local products such as feed, transportation and utilities. Dollars generated by hog production translate into more revenue for grocery stores, clothing outlets and other local merchants.
For example, one, 2,000-head finishing facility that turns over 2.75 times annually, with a corn demand of 9 bu./hog marketed, will create demand for well over 50,000 bu. of corn and more than 970,000 lb. of soybean meal annually, says Lawrence.