I can tell you something about our area. It's not IA, but just about 15 miles south of that, in the NW corner of MO.
The land here is prairie. You see a lot of grass fed cattle around here. In fact, our neighbors on three sides are all grazing cattle. Best neighbors you'll ever meet. Sociable, but not nosey; no wild parties, no boom boxes, and they stay on their side of the fence.
Their owners are nice, too.
Solar in the Midwest is not such a great idea, but with this being prairie, there's about all the wind you can harvest almost every day. Many kinds of wind generators are out there (Nick used to work in Distributed Generation, so he's more than a little familiar with the available options), and there are some wind farms out here. I don't like the wind farms, but I know that there are ways to capture wind power without those ugly white windmills.
The soil is rich IF you know how to get the nutrients out of it. In our area, there's a good deal of clay. That said, proper feeding of the soil is not at all difficult, and it really pays off (and let's face it, gardening isn't about growing plants, it's about building soil!)
The growing season is long enough to have plenty of food to eat and to put by. It can sometimes get a slow start, but once it takes off, it's off and runnin'!
Land is definitely less expensive in our neck of the woods. Avg price per acre is around $1000, give or take. Water is good. We have three wells on our 6 acres, but we still need to get them repaired, so we're on rural water in the meantime. Not what we want, but the basic $30 a month isn't going to kill our budget.
Lots of deer around here. If you don't go hunting with a gun, there's a good chance you'll still be able to bag a deer with a motor vehicle, or pick up one that someone's already hit. (Get on the list at the Sheriff's office, and they'll let you know.) Got lots of turkey, too, but I prefer to grow my own. They taste better and they're a darned sight easier to catch!
Speaking of growing animals, we have rabbits, poultry, and goats. All do very well in the Winter with minimal shelter. The goats have plenty to eat with graze/browse, and growing grass hay here is a no-brainer. Feed costs are not high, especially if you grow as much of your own as you can.
Even though we're out in the sticks, there is still quality medical care available in emergencies.
You'll have to drive a bit to get to Home Depot, but we've found a great guy up across the border who dismantles old houses and barns, sorts and grades the wood and other parts, and sells it for less than half you'd pay at the big box stores. There are lots of industrious folks like that around here.
MO leans more toward States' Rights than to follow in lockstep with what's happening in DC. Not saying we don't have some Big Brother types, but I'm pretty confident that our one "Party Girl" senator will be voted out by gosh or by golly come November.
You won't find great pizza this side of the Mississippi unless you either drive to KC or else learn to make it yourself.
I make a darned good pizza.
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