First Day Factoids

Today was the first day of school for students throughout the state of Maryland and this blogger was no exception. In an effort to get some street credit in the field we've all been learning about together here on the blog, I enrolled in the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland, College Park, and had a wonderful first day on campus today. In the spirit of spreading the love, here are some fun factoids I brought home:

• 98% of biomass on the earth is plants.
• 60% of the pharmaceuticals we use today are phytoderivative (from plants).
• Wood/timber is a $41 billion industry in the U.S.
• One acre of trees moves six tons of CO2 and produces four tons of oxygen.
• An important ingredient in Aspirin called Salicylic Acid comes from willow.
• Carbon Dioxide concentrations are highest during the winter. (I guess this one is sort of obvious, huh?)
• It takes 10 lbs of corn to produce a single pound of beef.
• It takes 4.5 lbs of corn to produce a single pound of pork.
• Corn holds the biggest market share of any crop in the U.S.
• In the early 1900s, one in ten people were directly involved in agriculture. Today the ratio is one in 140.
• The first records of agriculture (think drawings on cave walls) date back to 8,000BC.