Fun Facts

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

Pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast.

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.

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 one acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons?

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

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.

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!

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

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

One bale of cotton can make 1,256 pillowcases.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.