Agriculture–
In Touch With
You Daily!
Background
Information
Procedure
Shopping
Spree
Was That a
Plant?
In Touch With You Daily!
Whether or not we raise crops or livestock for a living, we are all
involved in agriculture. Why? Because we eat, wear clothes, and
benefit from all the by-products that come from the plants and animals
raised on farms and ranches in Texas and the United States.
Think about how agriculture touches you throughout each and every day.
| • | When you went to bed last night you were probably sleeping on sheets made from cotton. |
| • | When you took your shower or washed your face this morning you used soap that contained oil from corn, soybeans or cotton and fats from cattle. |
| • | How about the milk, toast, cereal, juice or other breakfast foods you ate? They were grown on a farm or ranch. |
| • | The paper bag you packed your lunch in and the notebook paper you did your homework on were made from trees that were planted on a tree farm, not to mention the lumber used to build the house or apartment you live in. |
Many other products we use daily come from plants and animals, but are
not as obvious. These items are made from by-products of plants or animals.
A by-product
is something left over after using a raw product
for making something else.
For example, when cotton is processed,
the cotton fiber is removed from the cottonseed. The fiber is turned into
cloth, which is used in sheets, blue jeans and shirts. The cottonseed
can be processed into cottonseed oil, cottonseed meal and cottonseed
hulls. These can be made into useful by-products. The oil can be used
as cooking oil, or as an ingredient in mayonnaise, salad dressing, cosmetics,
soaps, plastics and many other products we use every day. The meal from
the cottonseed can be used for livestock feed, fertilizer and fish bait.
The hulls can also be used as an ingredient in livestock feed, plastics,
and synthetic rubber. Linters, which
are the short hairs that cling to the seed after the longer fibers have
been removed, go into everything from photographic film and paper currency,
to cellulose products used in ice cream, chewing gum and maple syrup.
Many useful items come from corn, soybeans and other plants grown by farmers.
Besides the obvious corn products like corn chips, corn meal and cereal,
many other items we use every day are derived from by-products of corn.
Most processed foods and beverages such as soda water are sweetened, not
with sugar, but with corn syrup. Corn oil
is used extensively for cooking oil and in margarine, soup, potato
chips and other processed foods. Corn starch is used in aspirin, antibiotics,
chewing gum, cosmetics and many bakery products. Corn can also be turned
into a fuel called ethanol which can
be used to power automobiles. A lot of the corn grown in Texas is used
as livestock feed.
Soybeans is a crop grown by farmers that provides many food and non-food
products that we have come to depend on. Soybean
oil is not only used for cooking, but is an important ingredient
in paint, cosmetics, bread and pastry, printers ink, pesticides, rubber
and plastics. Soybeans are used in candy and cereal, as a substitute for
meat products and in medicines and pharmaceuticals.
Science and technology have discovered ways to use nearly every part of
animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and swine to give us all kinds of
useful products. By-products that come from these livestock include leather
goods, ingredients in cake mixes, ice cream, yogurt, candles, soap, chewing
gum, crayons and even medicinal drugs.
So – are YOU involved
in agriculture?
You bet!
Agriculture
touches you daily!
