Fun Facts

The largest market for field corn is to provide feed for animals like cattle, pigs, chicken, and even catfish. 

Cattle are great recyclers. They convert natural resources that would otherwise be wasted into beef, an edible protein containing 10 essential nutrients such as zinc, iron and B vitamins.  

One acre of soybeans can make 82,368 crayons!

A bushel of soybeans weighs 60 pounds and produces 11 pounds of oil and 48 pounds of soybean meal.

Did you know cotton is becoming a big crop in Kansas? Last year, farmers here produced over 164 million pounds of cotton! 

Kansas is known for its sunflowers. They provide food for insects, birds and cattle, and make great cooking oil, biofuel and a delicious snack for people!

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.

About four percent of the land in Kansas is part of conservation or wetland reserve programs.

Did you know corn tortillas can differ in color based on the type of corn used? Some are white and others are yellow.

Kansas is the top state for growing and storing wheat.

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

About one-third of the milk produced in the U.S. is used for making cheese.

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. 

Did you know there are 15,000 soybean farms in Kansas? In 2016, Kansas farmers harvested more than 4 million acres of soybeans.

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

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.

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

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.

One 60-pound bushel of wheat provides about 42 pounds of white flour, enough for about 70, one-pound loaves of white bread.

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

Kansas exports more than $4.8 billion in agricultural products per year.