LIFE ON THE FARM
Farms are full of more than tractors, barns, and animals.
From cows with incredible digestive systems to plants that turn tiny seeds into the food on our tables, there's a lot happening behind the fences.
Take a closer look. Farm life is full of surprises.
FROM FARM TO TABLE
A lot can happen between the farm and your plate.
Some foods are eaten almost exactly as they're grown, while others are harvested, ground, churned, fermented, or transformed before we ever see them at the grocery store.
Wheat can become flour and then bread. Milk can become cheese or butter. Corn can become everything from tortillas to cereal.
And farms produce more than food. Cotton becomes fabric, wool becomes yarn, and crops like corn can even be turned into fuel.
The things grown and raised on farms show up in our lives in more ways than you might think.
GROWS WHERE?
We see these foods at the grocery store all the time, but they can look completely different before they're harvested. Can you guess how they actually grow?
PEANUT: UNDERGROUND
Peanut flowers bloom above the soil, but the peanut itself develops underground. After the flower is pollinated, a stem called a peg grows downward into the soil, where the peanut begins to form.
PINEAPPLE: CLOSE TO THE GROUND
Pineapples don't grow on trees. They grow from a leafy plant close to the ground, with the fruit developing from a cluster of many individual flowers that eventually fuse together.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS: ALONG A STALK
Brussels sprouts don't grow as tiny cabbages scattered across the ground. They develop in rows along a tall, thick stalk, tucked between the plant's large leaves.
CASHEW: HANGING BELOW A FRUIT
A cashew grows in a shell attached to the bottom of a fleshy structure called a cashew apple. The nut we eat is hidden inside that shell and has to be carefully processed before it's safe to eat.
FARM ANIMALS ARE WEIRD
They may seem familiar, but the animals living around a farm have some seriously surprising biology. Even the animals we think we know are hiding a few surprises.
COW: FOUR STOMACHS... SORT OF
Cows don't actually have four separate stomachs. They have one stomach with four compartments that work together to break down tough plant material humans couldn't digest nearly as well.
CHICKEN: EGGS WITHOUT A ROOSTER
A hen doesn't need a rooster to lay an egg. Hens naturally produce eggs, but a rooster is needed for those eggs to be fertilized and potentially develop into chicks.
GOAT: RECTANGULAR PUPILS
Look closely at a goat's eyes and you'll notice something strange: its pupils are horizontal rectangles. This gives goats a wide field of view that helps them watch for predators while they're grazing.
MEET THE CROP
CORN
Corn might look like a simple crop, but it has become one of the most widely used plants in the world.
Some corn is eaten as food, but that's only the beginning. Corn can be ground into cornmeal and flour, turned into cereals and sweeteners, and used to feed livestock.
But corn doesn't always end up on a plate. Parts of the plant can be used to make ethanol fuel, biodegradable materials, adhesives, and other everyday products.
And not all corn is the same. The sweet corn we eat from the cob is different from the field corn grown for many processed foods, animal feed, and industrial uses.
One crop. A surprising number of possibilities.
KEEP THE DISCOVERY GOING
There’s a lot more happening on a farm than meets the eye, from surprising animals and unusual crops to the food and materials we use every day.
Little Known Truths Farm Trivia Cards bring fascinating farm facts into kids’ hands with realistic imagery and bite-sized facts made for curious minds.
WHERE WILL YOU EXPLORE NEXT?
There's always something new to discover.
