Fun Facts

Compared with 50 years ago, pig farmers are using 41% less water to produce a pound of pork, with a 35% smaller carbon footprint.

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.

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.

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.

There are four main types of sorghum: grain, forage, biomass and sweet. Their most popular uses are: for food (grain sorghum), as livestock feed (forage sorghum), to produce bioenergy (biomass...

98 percent of all corn farms are family-run farms.

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

Drink local with milk! It takes about 48 hours for milk to travel from dairy farms to the grocery store.

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

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.

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

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!

Did you know Kansas has an official state soil? It's called Harney silt loam and it covers about 4 million acres of land in our state. 

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!

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

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.

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

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 3,085 diapers.

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

Wheat flour is a good source of complex carbohydrates and contains protein. Plus, it’s low in fat and sodium.