Fun Facts

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

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

Kansas exports more than $4.8 billion in agricultural products per year.

One bale of cotton can make 1,256 pillowcases.

The cotton gin first came to Kansas in 1854 when a Polish immigrant wanted to gin local cotton near Valley Falls.

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.

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.

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.

Cattle are great recyclers. They convert natural resources that would otherwise be wasted into beef, an edible protein containing 10 essential nutrients such as zinc, iron and B vitamins.  

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

About one-third of the milk produced in the U.S. is used for making cheese.

A bushel of soybeans weighs 60 pounds and produces 11 pounds of oil and 48 pounds of soybean meal.

One cowhide can produce enough leather to make 20 footballs, 18 soccer balls, 18 volleyballs or 12 basketballs.

The average Kansas dairy cow produces about 7 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,544 gallons of milk over the course of a typical year.

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

One dairy cow can produce more than 3,000 gallons of milk in a year. There are about 160,000 dairy cows in Kansas. That's a lot of milk!

A finished bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.

One bushel of corn makes 2.8 gallons of ethanol.

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.

One bale of cotton can make 3,085 diapers.