KANSAS - The bread basket of the USA

Giant grain elevator dwarfs the hamlet of Palmer, Kansas north of Manhattan, KS
Each time I have driven through Kansas whether it was going east or west on I-70 or through the center on Interstate 35, I have noticed all kinds of grain elevators and silos dotting the horizon. It seems as though most of the prairie towns are centered around one of these giant structures. The really interesting scenes are when you get off of the interstate and follow highways such as US Highway 36 across the top of the state, US Highway 50/56 down through Dodge City or any other of the countless county roads that traverse the state. I was interested to know what the agricultural production of this state was so I went to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service website and found out some amazing stats . First, there are 46,000,000 acres being used for agricultural production in Kansas. 27,000,000 of those acres are planted with some type of crop and the balance is probably either fallow or utilized for live stock. Corn, soybeans and wheat alone are responsible for 6 billion dollars in annual production each year! Cotton, hay, potatoes, sunflower, barley and oats are also important products. Kansas ranks #1 in the country for wheat production and is 6th overall for agricultural production. As far as livestock is concerned, there are nearly 6 million cattle in the state including calves, 1.8 million hogs and tens of thousands of goats and sheep. Kansas cows produce billions of pounds of milk each year which is valued at over 700 million dollars! There are 61,000 different farming operations and the average age of the operator is 58 years old which makes me concerned about who is going to do all of this work when this "old guard" is no longer capable. I hope there is another generation of farmers behind these hard working men and women who truly feed the country and the world through their efforts.

Stats used in this post can be found at the following website:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brattleboro Retreat Tower - Haunted Asylum lookout in the Vermont Woods.

Image
Brattleboro Retreat Tower Since I arrived in New England I have been fascinated by a structure that caught my attention while I was looking for interesting sites to see. The structure I was curious about is called the “Brattleboro Retreat Tower” and it is located in Brattleboro, Vermont. The town of Brattleboro is about an hour drive north of where I live in Belchertown, Massachusetts so one Sunday afternoon I took a drive up to that place to check it out. On approach to Brattleboro I crossed the Connecticut River on a large green bow type steel bridge and then rounded a large frozen pond where people were fishing through holes out on the ice.  I made my way into the town and around the city park and then descended a hill and passed by some epic old Victorian looking structures on a campus, the entrance of which was marked by a decorative metal arch with a lamp hanging from it and the top of the arch read “Brattleboro Retreat”. The Brattleboro Retreat – which is an Asylum for ...
Read more

MONTANA - Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway

Image
10,127 foot Sawtooth Mountain as seen from the west and Grasshopper valley.  The Pioneer Mountains National Forest Scenic Byway is a road that passes through some beautiful mountain terrain in the south west corner of Montana. This road, Forest Route 73, takes the traveler on a 43-mile journey through the Beaverhead / Deerlodge National Forest from Wise River in the north to Polaris in the south. All along this route you will have stunning views of the west face and crest of the Pioneer Mountain range.  Torrey Mountain 11,147 Feet as seen from Scenic Byway The route follows the Wise river for a stretch and there are several waysides that have interpretive panels on topics such as geology, flora, fauna, glaciation, homesteads etc. Near the Wise River you can stop at a wayside and follow a short footpath past a pond full of lilies down to the riverside. Along this trail there are several benches that make great places to set for a spell and contemplate Gods beautiful ...
Read more

Alden House & Myles Standish Burial Ground: Duxbury, Massachusetts

Image
The Alden House in Duxbury, Massachusetts is a National Historic Landmark that commemorates the place where Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullens Alden lived and built their home in 1627.  The "Alden Kindred of America" organization operates the National Historic Landmark and their mission is to Preserve, Educate and exhibit the history and heritage of Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullens Alden. You can visit their website at www.alden.org to find out more information about genealogy and history of the site.  I visited this site in the fall of 2016 and the woods around the house and in Duxbury in general are beautiful as they exibit the typical color show that is autumn in New England.  John Alden was hired as part of the crew for the Mayflower. While the ship was anchored off of Cape Cod, John, along with others signed the Mayflower compact. Rather than return with the Mayflower to England, John chose to stay on with the Plymouth Co...
Read more