Fun Facts

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 that Americans consume about 132 pounds of wheat flour per person each year?

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.

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

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.

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

More than 87 percent of land in Kansas is farmland.

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

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.

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.

A finished bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.

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

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

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.

From farm to processor to distribution and retail, dairy creates jobs that support the economic well-being of Kansans. The dairy industry contributes $592 million annually to the Kansas economy and...

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

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

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

One bushel of corn makes 2.8 gallons of ethanol.

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

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.