AUSTIN — When Super Bowl XLVI kicks off Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., football fans may be surprised to know how agriculture plays into the gridiron game plan.

From leather footballs to fan-favorite snacks, the big Bowl would not be as Super without the products of farmers and ranchers. Regardless of which team you root for on Super Bowl Sunday, keep an eye out for the products of agriculture when the players start plowing the ball toward the end zone. 

• Leather is used to make footballs, and in Texas we lead the nation in cattle with  nearly 12 million head generating an annual production value of  more than $7.5 billion. 

• Texas produced 3.5 million bales of cotton in 2011, 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 in Texas we produced 233 million pounds in 2011 - enough to make more than 2 billion peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

• Hot dogs are a traditional favorite at football games, and in Texas our pork industry has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $250 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 a biodegradable plastic for drink cups, utensils and more. Texas growers produced 137 million bushels of corn in 2011.

• A football field, including the end zones, is 360 feet long-by-160 feet wide and covers 1.3 acres. By comparison, Texas encompasses 144 million acres of agricultural and rural land - more than any other state in the nation.