Fun Facts

Did you know Kansas has an official state soil? It's called Harney silt loam and it covers about 4 million acres of land in our state. 

From farm to processor to distribution and retail, dairy creates jobs that support the economic well-being of Kansans. The dairy industry contributes $592 million annually to the Kansas economy and...

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.

Output from Kansas agriculture has a direct economic impact of $22.5 billion per year.

One bale of cotton can make 1,256 pillowcases.

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

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

Drink local with milk! It takes about 48 hours for milk to travel from dairy farms to the grocery store.

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.

It takes five to six months for a pig to reach market weight (about 265 pounds). One market hog provides about 160 pounds of pork for the grocery store’s meat case.

Cotton can be found in much more than clothes and other fabrics! Cotton by-products can be used to make paper currency, cosmetics and feed for dairy cattle and livestock.

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

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

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.

In Kansas alone, pig farmers raised over 3.2 million pigs in 2015, producing over 600 million pounds of pork!

One bushel of corn makes 2.8 gallons of ethanol.

For a dessert to officially be considered ice cream, it must contain at least 10 percent milkfat.

Milk is one of the best sources of calcium. Our bodies absorb 28 percent of the calcium found in milk, but as little as 5 percent of the calcium found in other foods like spinach.

Grain sorghum is one of the oldest known grains. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Africa and India.

The average Kansas dairy cow produces about 7 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,544 gallons of milk over the course of a typical year.

Enriched white bread and other enriched grain products are a good source of iron and B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid), as well as complex carbohydrates.