Fun Facts

The cotton gin first came to Kansas in 1854 when a Polish immigrant wanted to gin local cotton near Valley Falls.

One bushel of corn makes 2.8 gallons of ethanol.

In pre-refrigeration days, hogs were harvested in the fall and cured for six to seven months, just in time for Easter dinner. That’s how ham came to be the traditional Easter favorite.

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

The United States grows more soybeans than any other country and six out of every ten rows of soybeans are exported to other countries.

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.

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

98 percent of all corn farms are family-run farms.

One bale of cotton can make 4,312 mid-calf socks.

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

Kansas grows winter wheat that is planted and sprouts in the fall, becomes dormant in the winter, grows again in the spring and is harvested in early summer.

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

Corn is produced on every continent of the world with the exception of Antarctica. 

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.

One bale of cotton can make 1,256 pillowcases.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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