Fun Facts

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

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.

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

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

Grains can be categorized into food grains (for people) and feed grains (for cattle). Cattle eat feed grains like field corn and grain sorghum. An average of 4 ½ pounds of grain is used to produce a...

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

Milk is one of the best sources of calcium. Our bodies absorb 28 percent of the calcium found in milk, but as little as 5 percent of the calcium found in other foods like spinach.

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

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

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

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

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.

Did you know there are 15,000 soybean farms in Kansas? In 2016, Kansas farmers harvested more than 4 million acres of soybeans.

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

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

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

Energy experts estimate global ethanol production and use reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 110 million metric tons per year. That’s equivalent to taking more than 20 million vehicles off the road.

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...

A finished bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.

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

Dairy farmers work with animal nutritionists to create recipes that meet the specific nutritional requirements of their cows. A cow’s diet is a combination of hay, grain, silage and proteins,...