Odd Farming Facts (that May SURPRISE You)

Farming is typically a serious business that comes with a hard-working lifestyle. To lighten up things a bit, we’ve compiled a few fun (and often alarming) farming and agricultural trivia that will hopefully brighten your day.

7% of adults in the U.S. shockingly think…

…that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy conducted an online survey and uncovered this eye-opening statistic, which still has them scratching their heads at the water cooler.

82,368 Crayons

That’s how many crayons are produced from one acre of soybeans.

Although most of the soybeans grown in the U.S. are used for feeding livestock, it turns out that they're also used in the production of crayons. Did you know that many of us learned what the color ‘periwinkle’ was from our very first box of 64?

Run, Forest, run.

If your pig’s name was Forest, you might be wondering how fast he can run.

Or, not. But, if you are curious about your pig’s ability to make the track team, the fact is that your pig (on average) can run an entire mile in 7 minutes. Pretty impressive since a human who is considered a ‘runner’ can cover a mile in about the same time (7-10 minutes). If you are non-runner who is in fairly decent shape, it would take you about 12-15 minutes. Therefore, pigs can probably out-run the majority of humans.

What was Jethro Tull’s biggest hit?

No, not the 70s rock band.

We’re talking about the English agriculturist who invented the seed drill in 1701. Farmers are indebted to him, since before his invention, seeds were planted by scattering them by hand. (Side note: Actually, the famous rock band by the same name was christened Jethro Tull by one of their booking agents who was a farm history buff.)

What has your chicken done to impress you lately?

Chances are it isn’t how long or far they flew.

Chickens have the unfortunate reputation for being unimpressive flyers. Sure, they can manage to fly short distances in a pinch, and yet the longest recorded flight by a chicken is thirteen seconds long. And, the longest distance flown by a chicken is 301.5 feet. Maybe it’s time to send your feathered friends to Aviary Boot Camp (sorry, there is no such thing as of this writing).

A pound of honey is worth how much?

For your average beehive, it’s worth much more than money.

Bees might be the hardest working creatures on earth. One hive of bees takes 55 miles of flight time to produce one pound of honey. Even more shocking is the fact that they have to visit approximately two million flowers for the bees to product that one pound of honey. Good thing they can fly up to 15 miles per hour which means they can do their jobs fairly quickly.

Last, but certainly not least…

20% of adults don’t know what’s between their buns!

Don’t get your overalls in a knot. We’re talking about hamburgers.

In the early 1990s, a study by the Department of Agriculture found out the shocking fact some people didn't know hamburgers were made from cows. Maybe they just thought that the meat between those two buns were manufactured by the drive-up window person.

Conclusion

Never underestimate the intelligence and superhero abilities of farm animals and insects. At Mitchell-Joseph, we want you to know that we knew about the chocolate milk. And, the hamburger thing. Call us if you need insurance. We’re good at that. (585) 624-2180.