Kansas Agriculture
Kansas has a strong agricultural tradition that predates its statehood, and agriculture continues to be a significant contributor to the state's economic well-being.
Currently, Kansas produces more wheat, grain sorghum and beef than any other state in the nation. Cash receipts for farm marketings were nearly $10 billion in 2005, and Kansas ranks seventh in farm product exports, which were valued at $2.7 billion in 2005.
Agriculture clearly is a part of Kansas' past, and it is a key economic driver in our present, but it also holds great potential for our future.
Increasingly, agricultural resources provide raw materials for a broad range of nonfood products, such as chemicals, fibers, construction materials, lubricants and fuels. Developing and commercializing biobased and bioenergy products provide new and expanded markets for agricultural feedstocks, it reduces our nation's dependence on petroleum and other imported materials, and it helps diversify agriculture.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture helps promote an environment conducive to the vitality of new initiatives involving agriculture. We help coordinate the communication needed to explain regulations and opportunities that exist in Kansas, so that new initiatives have a chance to succeed.