TEXAS NEIGHBORS | FALL 2022 AGRICULTURE FOOTBALL There’s nothing quite like football in Texas. Friday night lights shining bright. Saturday tailgates before kickoff. And Sundays with the Cowboys and Texans. Football means a lot to Tex-ans. But so does agriculture. And it shows. There are more than 200 NFL players who come from Texas, and for good reason. We grow ’em big and fast here, exactly what you want on the field. Something else that Texas excels at is agriculture. The Lone Star State is a leader in cattle, cotton, sheep, goats, horses and the number of farms and ranches. It makes sense then that foot-ball and agriculture would have almost unbreakable bonds. The ball itself is a direct product of agriculture. NFL footballs are made from the highest quality cowhides. It takes just one cowhide to make 20 footballs. What about the field? That’s agriculture, too. Turf grass is the most common playing sur-face in the NFL and in college. The grass is grown and cared for over several months before it’s put down. And it’s not just maintained during the season. Those fields are kept up all year long. Of course, fans need food and refreshments at the games, and that, too, has agri-cultural ties. From the hotdogs and nachos at the stadium to the chicken wings and potato chips at home, Texas farmers and ranchers are behind those fan favorite foods. You also can’t forget the cot-ton t-shirts you wear in sup-port of your favorite team. Tex-as is the top cotton-producing state in the nation. That’s a lot of shirts! And it doesn’t stop there. Agriculture and football have a long history together. You don’t have to look hard to see how the sport pays tribute to its backbone. Some of the most well-known college bowl games have agricultural references, including the Peach Bowl and Texas’ own Cotton Bowl. Although agriculture may not always get much recogni-tion, it’s a major player in foot-ball games. And Texas farmers and ranchers are proud to be part of that role. So as the season rolls on, know that Texas agriculture will always be the unofficial sponsor of football in Texas. the unocial sponsor of WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG