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Kansas Crops Kansas Crops Unit 4) Kansas Crops The state of Kansas is often called the "Wheat State" or the "When tillage begins, other acts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the "Sunflower State." Year after year, the state of Kansas leads the founders of human civilization." nation in the production of wheat and grain sorghum and ranks Daniel Webster, American statesman and orator among the top ten states in the production of sunflowers, alfalfa, When Kansas became a state, corn, and soybeans. Kansas farmers also plant and harvest a variety most of the people in the United of other crops to meet the need for food, feed, fuel, fiber, and other States were farmers. According to consumer and industrial products. the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture, the food and fiber produced by the average farmworker at that Introduction time supported fewer than five Wheat people. Farming methods, which – Wheat uses Credit: Louise Ehmke had not changed significantly – Wheat history for several decades, were passed down from one generation to the Corn next. The Homestead Act of 1862 promoted the idea that anyone – Corn uses could become a farmer but people soon realized that once they went – Corn history beyond the eastern edge of Kansas, survival depended on changing Grain Sorghum those traditional farming methods. – Grain sorghum uses Out of necessity, Kansas adopted an attitude of innovation and – Grain sorghum history experimentation. Since 1863, faculty at the Kansas State Agricul- Soybeans tural College (KSAC) and the KSAC Agricultural Experiment – Soybean uses Station have assisted Kansas farmers in meeting crop production – Soybean history challenges. Both entities, now known as Kansas State University Sunflowers and the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station – Sunflower uses and Cooperative Extension Service (K-State Research and Exten- – Sunflower history sion), continue those efforts today. Research conducted at research Alfalfa centers and experiment fields across the state provide test results for – Alfalfa uses a variety of crops. – Alfalfa history By 1961, 100 years after Kansas became a state, each American Cotton farmer was supplying enough food and fiber to meet the needs of – Cotton uses 26 people. Today, one farmer in the United States feeds around 144 – Cotton history people. Without Kansas crops, that statistic would be much differ- Other Kansas Crops ent. In 2007, Kansas crops were planted on 22.6 million acres, an Food, Feed, Fiber, Fuel, and the Future area larger than 11 other individual states. Career Profiles – Cindy Falk, Nutrition Educator, Kansas Wheat Commission Feeding People – Mary Knapp, State Climatologist One farm worker produced enough food and fiber to meet the needs Showcases of this many people in the United States and around the world: – Wheat Genomics Laboratory, KSU – Ethanol 1861 < 5 people Endnotes 1961 26 people References Teacher's Resources 2007 144 people Source: USDA Exploring Kansas Natural Resources 57 Kansas Crops Surface Area of Kansas – Cultivated Cropland Crop Categories Agricultural crops– crops produced for human food, livestock feed, or consumer and industrial products. Total Surface Area = Pastureland 52,660,800 & Rangeland acres Fiber crops– crops produced for the fiber; for example, cotton and flax. Forest Land Forages– crops harvested for livestock feed; for example, alfalfa, Other Rural Land forage sorghum, and brome. Cultivated Developed Land Cropland Federal Land Grains– crops that produce a small hard seed. 24,618,900 acres Water Areas Horticultural crops– fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental Other * Includes land enrolled in the Conservation plants; considered agricultural crops. Cropland* Reserve Program (CRP) Row crops– originally used to describe crops planted in a specific Source: 2003 Natural Resources Inventory, USDA NRCS way; includes soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, sunflowers, and cotton. Crops are cultivated plants planted on cropland. Crops can by Source: Jim Shroyer, Crop Production Specialist, K-State Research and Extension categorized according to use, by plant families, as annuals or peren- nials, or in other ways. Generally, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and Wheat ornamental plants are considered horticultural crops and included (Triticum aestivum ssp. vulgare) in the both the state and national agricultural crop statistics. “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a Several terms refer to a wide range of agricultural crops that are field as in writing a poem.” produced for human food or livestock feed, or processed and resold Booker T. Washington, educator and author in a variety of consumer or industrial products. These terms include Flour milling is one of the oldest industries in Kansas. Early pio- grains, oilseeds, and forages. Grains are divided into "coarse grains" neers heading west on trails through Kansas had their grain ground (corn and grain sorghum) and "small grains" (wheat, oats, barley, into flour in eastern Kansas as early as the 1850s. Many of the early triticale, rye, and rice). The term "cereal grains" is used to describe mills were dual-purpose–serving as sawmills during the daytime crops from the grass family of plants which produce seeds (grain) and grinding grain into flour during the night. At the same time, used as food by people and livestock. Cereal grains include wheat, people were planting more and more wheat in Kansas. By 1878, rice, corn, grain sorghum, rye, oats, barley, millet, and triticale. people were predicting that Kansas would become the "greatest and Oilseeds include soybeans, sunflowers, canola, cotton, and flax. best wheat growing state in the Union." 1 Those predictions came Forages include those crops harvested for livestock feed, such as true. Almost every year, Kansas does produce more wheat than any alfalfa, forage sorghum, or brome. The term "row crop" originally other state. Kansas also mills more wheat flour and produces more described crops planted in a specific way, including soybeans, corn, wheat gluten than any other state. grain sorghum, sunflowers, and cotton. Cotton and flax would also Today the volume of wheat produced in Kansas is amazing. be considered "fiber crops." According to the Kansas Wheat Commission, a single Kansas Kansas crops serve many purposes. Kansas farmers plan planting wheat harvest could fill a train that would stretch from the western sequences and harvesting options according to individual situa- edge of the state to the Atlantic Ocean. Kansas farmers produce tions, field conditions, potential demand for products, and antici- 20 percent of all the wheat grown in the United States. One bushel pated economic returns on investments of inputs, time, and capital, of wheat is equal to 60 pounds of wheat. A normal Kansas wheat as well as other variables. Individual fields may not be planted to the same crop year after year and the acreage statewide may shift between the major crops from year to year, but the overall number of acres planted to crops in Kansas remains reasonably constant. The attitude of innovation and experimentation that allowed Kansans to survive many early challenges is still present in Kansas agriculture today. Kansas crop producers continue to look for new opportunities to produce a variety of crops for food, feed, fiber, fuel and other products. Kansas Crops Check out the Kansas Agricultural Statistic Service's web site for the most recent reports on Kansas crop production or for historical data. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/index.asp Wheat Credit:Kansas Wheat Commission 58 Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom Kansas Crops harvest of several hundred million bushels adds more than a billion Grains and Oilseeds dollars to the state's economy, according to the Kansas Agricultural Cereal grains– wheat, rice, corn, grain sorghum, rye, oats, barley, Statistics Service. millet, and triticale. Nearly all of the wheat grown in Kansas is winter wheat–planted and sprouting in the fall, going dormant in the winter, growing Coarse grains– corn and grain sorghum. again in the spring, and ready for harvest in early summer. Winter wheat is ideally suited for the Kansas climate. Precipitation during Feed grains– grain fed to livesock; often interchanged with coarse winter and spring combines with summer sunshine and warmer grains. temperatures to ripen the wheat in June and July, making it one of the most picturesque crops in the world. Oilseeds– soybeans, sunflowers, canola, cotton, and flax. Wheat contains gluten, the basic structure in Small grains– wheat, oats, barley, triticale, rye, and rice. forming the dough system for breads, rolls, and Source: Jim Shroyer, Crop Production Specialist, K-State Research and Extension other baked goods. Other grains have gluten but not What is an Acre? as much as wheat. There are three classes of wheat Acre– a unit of measurement for land. produced in Kansas: hard One acre equals 43,560 square feet (approximately the red winter wheat, hard Wheat Bread same size as a high school football field, not including the white wheat, and soft red Credit: Wheat Foods Council end zones). winter wheat. Hard red winter wheat accounts for almost 40 percent of the wheat grown One square mile equals 640 square acres. in the United States and 94 percent of the wheat grown in Kansas. This wheat has good milling and baking characteristics and makes high-quality yeast breads and rolls. At this time, about 5 percent of One Bushel the wheat produced in Kansas is hard white wheat, which is primar- ily used for tortillas, hard rolls, noodles, and yeast breads. Hard Corn 56 pounds white wheat production is being driven by the interest from foreign Grain Sorghum 56 pounds buyers of Kansas wheat, who typically purchase nearly one-half of Soybeans 60 pounds the state's annual wheat production. Soft red winter wheat makes Sunflowers 27 pounds up only 1 percent of the wheat produced in Kansas. It is grown in Wheat 60 pounds the eastern part of the state and used to make cakes, crackers, flat breads, and pastries.
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