Fun Facts

The journey from the time a calf is conceived to the time beef is consumed takes 24-30 months and thousands of miles—from ranches, farms, feed yards and packing plants to grocery stores and...

Pig farmers have reduced greenhouse gas emissions on pig farms by 35% per pound of pork by changing how crops are raised, how pigs are fed, and how nutrients are recycled.

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.

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

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!

More than 87 percent of land in Kansas is farmland.

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

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

Fertilizer contains a lot of helpful nutrients, thanks to Mother Nature! Potash, which is salt from ancient evaporated oceans, is used in fertilizer to feed our soil.

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

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 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.

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

There are more than 300 licensed dairy herds in Kansas with about 143,000 cows total. In 2015 cows produced about 365 million gallons of milk, making Kansas the 16th largest milk producing state.

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

One bale of cotton can make 3,085 diapers.

Did you know Kansas farmers grow about 330 million bushels of wheat each year? That’s enough to make 23 billion loaves of bread!

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

Did you know that one acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons?

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

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.