Fun Facts

About a third of a steer is used for beef production. The rest of the animal is used to make by-products found in medicines, cosmetics, detergents, insulation, and much more!

A common ingredient in fertilizer is phosphate, which comes from ancient sea life. Phosphate is one of many natural ingredients used to keep soil — and plants! — healthy.

Did you know some of the fertilizer farmers add to the soil comes from the air we breathe? Companies can convert nitrogen in the air into nitrogen to nourish the ground.

One cowhide can produce enough leather to make 20 footballs, 18 soccer balls, 18 volleyballs or 12 basketballs.

Beef from cows and steers are used in two different ways. Cow meat is used primarily as ground beef for hamburgers and the majority of steer meat is used as steaks.

Farmers in Kansas grow more than 650 million bushels of corn each year. 

Grains can be categorized into food grains (for people) and feed grains (for cattle). Cattle eat feed grains like field corn and grain sorghum. An average of 4 ½ pounds of grain is used to produce a...

One bushel of corn fed to livestock produces 5.6 pounds of retail beef, 13 pounds of retail pork, 19.6 pounds of chicken or 28 pounds of catfish.

Sows give birth (called farrowing) to an average of eight to twelve piglets at a time and will raise six to eight litters of piglets in their lifetime.

In 2018, farmers in Kansas planted 165,000 acres of cotton, which produced about 335,000 bales!

Mexico and Japan are our top international corn buyers. They buy 50 percent of U.S. corn exports.

Soybean oil is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E.

Sorghum can be used to make environmentally-friendly packing peanuts, fencing materials, floral arrangements, brooms and more!

Cotton bolls, which are the puffs of white produced by cotton plants, are technically fruit.

There are about 60-80 pods on a mature soybean plant. Each pod contains three small soybeans.

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

In addition to meat, pigs provide us with lots of other products, including valves for human heart surgery, suede for shoes and clothing, and gelatin for many food and non-food uses.

Did you know that Americans consume about 132 pounds of wheat flour per person each year?

About two-thirds of the Kansas corn crop is used in-state as livestock feed or in food production.

One bushel of corn makes 2.8 gallons of ethanol.

Looking for a gluten-free grain? Try sorghum! It's gluten-free and packed with protein, iron, vitamin B-6, niacin, magnesium and phosphorus.