Fifteen Facts about Agriculture
Nov 15, 2012
On my Social Media Feeds, I have been sharing a fact about agriculture every day in November. Today, November 15, marks the half way mark. I invite you to learn more about U.S. agriculture and the farmers/ranchers that produce your food, fuel, and fiber.
Did You Know? [click on the link in each fact to learn more]
- 98% farms are family owned
- 22 million American workers produce, process, sell and trade the nation’s food and fiber. But only 4.6 million of those people live on the farms– slightly less than 2% of the total U.S. Population.
- The same land that provides food and open space for raising cattle also offers a home for many types of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species of fish, mammals, birds and plants.
- 90% of the Pumpkins grown in the United States are raised in 90-mile radius of Peoria, IL
- During the Civil War, Soybeans were used in place of coffee because real coffee was scarce.
- The United States Department of Agriculture was actually started by President Abraham Lincoln.
- Starbucks uses over 2% of the nation’s annual milk supply
- America’s corn farmers are by far the most productive in the world, growing 20% more Corn per acre than any other nation.
- Black Angus Cattle have gray-rough tongues.
- Wool is comparatively fire resistant. This natural fiber is hard to ignite and will self-extinguish
- Soldier pigs have gone to war. On battlefields, they have used their sensitive snouts as mine sniffers.
- Today’s four-wheel drive tractors have the power of 40- 300 horses. This makes for a large capital investment, as farmers pay anywhere from $97,000 for an average 160 horsepower tractor to $170,000 for a four-wheel drive model.
- A bale of cotton weighs about 500 pounds
- California produced the most vegetables in United States, which accounted for 48% of the nation’s value of fresh vegetables.
- About 2.2 million pounds of Certified Angus Beef® are sold daily, generating an estimated $4 billion in consumer sales annually.
Thank You America's Farmers and Ranchers!
