Iowa's agriculture is chiefly corn-hog farming. Corn, which is produced in abundance, provides the raw material upon which the gigantic livestock industry depends. The sale of swine is the most important source of income of the state.

Profound changes have taken place in the economics of hog marketing during the last decade. Three-fifths of Iowa hogs are today sold direct to packers; receipts at public stockyards have declined accordingly. Concentration points have been established throughout the hog producing area. Order buying has become well developed. Add to these the improvements in rural transportation, better market news facilities, standardization of hog grades and the comparatively large scale country buying that is practiced today and it becomes apparent that the machinery for marketing hogs is strikingly different from that which served producers only a few years ago.