NEWS RELEASE: Texas Agriculture Gets In on the Big Plays at Super Bowl XLVIII
Commissioner Todd Staples
Texas Department of Agriculture
Contact: Lindsey Pope | (512) 463-7664 | 1-800-TELL-TDA
For Immediate Release:
Jan. 30, 2014
AUSTIN — Our Texas football teams may be watching from the sidelines, but there’s a good chance Texas agriculture will take the field when Super Bowl XLVIII kicks off Sunday, February 2 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Whether you root for the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks, make sure you also cheer on the farmers and ranchers who make the Super Bowl on Sunday so super.
While many super bowls have been played outside, MetLife Stadium will host what many say is the first-ever Super Bowl in an open-air venue in a cold climate. According to the “Winter Outlook” section of the 2014 Farmers’ Almanac, a winter storm is predicted to hit the New Jersey/ New York region just in time for kick off. Farmers and ranchers know how to persevere in snow, rain, sleet or drought, and it looks like Super Bowl organizers have taken a page from agriculture’s playbook and developed winter weather contingency plans that will keep the game going.
Agriculture will play a big role in this weekend’s game. Here’s a snapshot of how agriculture will star in Super Bowl XLVIII:
• Footballs are made from leather, and in Texas, we lead the nation in cattle production with more than 11 million head generating an annual production value of more than $10 billion.
• Texas produced 5 million bales of cotton in 2013, which is enough to make a Super Bowl Championship T-shirt for every person in the U.S. – and China, India, Russia, Mexico and Japan.
• Peanuts are a favorite snack at football games, and here in Texas, we produced 433 million pounds in 2013. That’s enough to make more than 4 billion peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches or 800 million 8-ounce bags of roasted peanuts.
• Hot dogs are a traditional favorite at football games, and in Texas, our pork industry has an annual statewide economic impact of $110 million.
• Hot dogs also need hot dog buns. Texas growers produce an average 90 million bushels of wheat annually – enough to make more than 25 billion hot dog buns.
• How better to celebrate a Super Bowl Championship than with a good steak dinner? Texas produces about 7 billion pounds of beef each year. That’s the equivalent of 14 billion 8-ounce steaks or enough to supply 130 steaks to every person watching the game in the United States (according to Nielson estimates, last year’s Super Bowl attracted a record 111 million U.S. viewers).
• Cornstarch can be used to make biodegradable plastic for drink cups, utensils and more. Texas growers produced 276 million bushels of corn in 2013.
• A football field, including the end zones, is 360 feet long by 160 feet wide and covers 1.3 acres. By comparison, Texas is home to 144 million acres of agricultural and rural land – that’s more than any other state in the nation.
• Agriculture is such a big part of American history and our everyday lives it even played a part in one of the most watched Super Bowl commercials from last year’s game, Ram Truck’s “So God Made a Farmer.”
• Even though New Jersey and New York, the host states for this year’s game, are heavily urbanized, agriculture still makes a significant contribution to the region’s economy. The 46,000 farmers in the two states generate more than $6 billion in agricultural income. In fact, New Jersey’s nickname, The Garden State, pays tribute to its farming heritage. By comparison, Texas leads the nation with 247,500 farms and ranches. The economic impact of the Texas food and fiber industry totals $100 billion.
Contact Lindsey Pope at Lindsey.Pope@TexasAgriculture.gov or (512) 463-7664 if you’re interested in setting up an interview to talk about these fun Super Bowl facts with Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples.
