Fun Facts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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!

There are 7 different breeds of dairy cattle. Farmers choose their breeds based on milk production, size and even personality.

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.

The majority of oil used for cooking in our country is U.S.-grown 100% soybean oil!

Did you know the corn humans eat is different from the corn that cattle eat? Most of the corn people eat is sweet  corn. Cattle and other livestock eat field corn.

One bale of cotton can make 1,256 pillowcases.

Gluten is what helps bread expand while the dough rises, and hold its shape while baking and after it cools. It’s also what makes bread chewy.

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

A finished bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.

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