Adams County Ag in the Classroom

🌾 Fun Fact Friday: Store bread the right way 🌾

How you store bread can make a big difference in how long it stays fresh.

👉 Fun fact: Never refrigerate bread or bagels—they become stale up to six times faster in the fridge. Instead, keep bread at room temperature if you’ll use it soon, or freeze it to enjoy later.

It’s a simple tip that helps reduce food waste and makes the most of the wheat that farmers work hard to grow. Thanks for following along with our wheat Fun Fact Fridays this month—we’ve loved sharing how this important crop connects farming, food, and everyday life.

🌾 Fun Fact Friday: Wheat by the numbers 🌾

Wheat production looks a little different depending on where you are in the country.

👉 Fun fact: Kansas produces more wheat than any other state, earning its long‑standing reputation as a major wheat producer. Illinois also plays an important role, ranking 10th in the nation for wheat production.

This is a great reminder that agriculture looks different across states, but every growing region—including Illinois—helps contribute to a strong and reliable food system. Stay tuned as we continue exploring wheat and its role in agriculture this month.

🌾 Fun Fact Friday: Wheat around the world 🌾

Wheat isn’t just important here at home—it plays a major role globally.

👉 Fun fact: Wheat is the most harvested crop in the world. It’s grown on more land than any other crop and helps feed people across many countries and cultures.

From flour and bread to pasta and cereal, wheat connects farms to families every day. This widespread crop is a great example of how agriculture supports food security and communities around the globe—and right here in Illinois, too.

🌾 Fun Fact Friday: Wheat terms 🌾

When learning about crops, knowing the right words helps everything make more sense.

👉 Fun fact: The part of the wheat plant below the spiked head is called straw after harvest. While the head holds the kernels we use for food, the straw has its own uses too—from animal bedding to mulch and more.

Simple terms like these help students (and adults!) better understand how plants grow and how every part of the crop can matter in agriculture. Keep following along as we continue our wheat series all month long.

🌾 Fun Fact Friday: Wheat is stickier than you think! 🌾

Wheat isn’t just for bread and pasta—it’s useful in some surprising ways, too.

👉 Fun fact: The starch found in wheat makes it a versatile adhesive. That sticky stuff on the back of postage stamps? It contains wheat! This natural starch helps make things stick while showing how crops can be used beyond food.

From the kitchen to the classroom (and even the post office), wheat plays a role in everyday life. Stay tuned as we continue exploring how this hardworking crop connects agriculture, science, and learning all month long.

📣 Teachers—let us help you finish the final stretch strong!

Final Stretch Learning is a hands-on professional development opportunity from Ag in the Classroom designed to support you with easy, engaging lessons for the final weeks of school.

✔ Classroom‑tested lesson ideas you can use right away
✔ Flexible, meaningful activities for end‑of‑year schedules
✔ Free resources and simple lesson add-ons
✔ Earn 2 hours of professional development credit

🗓 May 14 | 4:00–6:00 PM
📍 Quincy Brewing Company

👉 Learn more or register:
🔗 go.illinois.edu/FinalStretch

🌾 May Fun Fact Fridays: All About Wheat! 🌾

This month, Adams County Ag in the Classroom is digging into wheat—one of the most important crops in the world and a staple in many of the foods we eat every day.

👉 Fun fact: Wheat is a member of the grass family, and it produces a dry, edible seed called a kernel. Those kernels are used mostly for human consumption and are the starting point for foods like bread, pasta, cereal, and more.

Join us each Friday in May as we share fun, kid‑friendly wheat facts and explore how this hardworking crop connects farms, food, and classrooms right here in our community.

🌱 Fun Fact Friday: Soybeans at a BIG scale! 🌱

Illinois farmers plant enough soybeans each year to cover nine million football fields. 🏈🌱 Now that’s hometown agriculture making a nationwide impact!

It doesn’t stop there—the United States grows more soybeans than any other country in the world, producing about 55% of the global supply. From food and feed to fuel and everyday products, soybeans play a major role in feeding people, supporting farmers, and strengthening local and national economies.

As we wrap up April’s soybean series, we’re proud to highlight the innovation, scale, and global reach of agriculture right here at home. 🌎🚜

🌱 Fun Fact Friday: Soybeans edition!

Long before soy was trending, it was already fueling innovation:

🚗 In 1940, Henry Ford experimented with soy-based plastics—and famously swung an axe at his car’s trunk to prove how durable it was.

🎨 George Washington Carver developed paints and stains using soybeans, expanding their use far beyond food.

🥛 In the 1920s, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg created early soy milk and meat substitutes from soybeans.

Soybeans have been shaping food, industry, and innovation for more than a century—right here in agriculture.