We Mapped All 11,000 Factory Farms in Iowa. Here Are Five Things We Learned.
Here’s what the data reveal about the country’s factory farm hotbed.
Inside Iowa•8 min read
Inside Iowa
Investigating the hidden costs of factory farming across the state
Investigation
How Corporate Agriculture Is Funding Both Sides of the Iowa Governor’s Race
Elections•9 min read
News
Key Iowa Swing Districts in U.S. House Could Hinge on Water Quality and Cancer Concerns
Elections•5 min read
Feature
Iowa Senator Catelin Drey Knows her State’s Cancer Crisis. She’s Living it.
Health•8 min read
Investigation
The Nation’s ‘Egg Mafia’ Made Billions. Their Fines Over Price Fixing Are a Drop in the Bucket.
Egg companies that received hundreds of millions of dollars in bird flu payments are ordered to settle for a fraction of the price.
Food•5 min read
How and Why Sentient Media Mapped Factory Farms in Iowa
Inside Iowa•9 min read
What’s happening in Iowa
Sources: 25m: Hog population: USDA NASS, Quarterly Hogs and Pigs, June 2026. Human population: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates | Fivefold: Data: Environmental Working Group. 1990 and 2019 figures from EWG’s 2020 analysis; 2025 figure from EWG’s 2026 analysis. Large CAFOs are those housing 1,000 or more animal units (1,000 cattle, 714 dairy cows, 2,500 hogs or 100,000 laying hens) | 79%: Share of Iowa voters who support introducing mandatory requirements for industrial agriculture to reduce pollution. Data: Global Strategy Group poll of 600 Iowa registered voters for Food & Water Action, Jan–Feb 2026 | Rising: Data: CDC WONDER. Average incidence for 2018-22 inclusive by US state, age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population. All invasive cancer sites combined, all ages, both sexes.
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