Fun Facts

More than 87 percent of land in Kansas is farmland.

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.

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

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.

Within an hour of birth calves are up and ready to nurse. A baby calf will drink a gallon of milk a day.

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

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.

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

All the wheat grown in Kansas in a single year would fit in a train stretching from western Kansas to the Atlantic Ocean.

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

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!

Did you know that in Kansas cows outnumber people 2-to1? There are almost 3 million people and more than 6 million cattle!

There are more than 29 cuts of beef that meet government guidelines for lean, including tenderloin, T-bone steak and extra lean ground beef.

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.

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

The top five agiculture commodities in Kansas are cattle, corn, wheat, soybeans and sorghum.

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

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

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

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