By Julie Tomascik

Chicken wings. Peanuts. And you can’t forget the pigskins, give or take a few pounds of air. Those can mean only one thing: Super Bowl weekend.

And while Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals fans hope for a win, I’m pulling for agriculture.

I know. I know. That’s not a team.

Agriculture may not get much recognition–if any–but it’s a major player in the game. And Texas agriculture is part of that role, even if the game isn’t in Texas this year.

So how exactly is agriculture involved?

Footballs. They’re made from leather. And Texas leads the nation in cattle numbers with over 13 million head.

Peanuts. The Lone Star State grows millions of pounds of this popular snack!

Land. A football field, including the end zones, takes up a pretty big chunk of land. About 1.3 acres. To compare, Texas is home to more than 127 million acres of farmland. That’s about 100 million football fields.

Chicken wings. Super Bowl weekend is unquestionably the biggest time of year for wings. Texas grows more than 100 million chickens each year, ranking sixth in the nation.

Cotton. Texas is a major cotton state. And over 7 million bales of cotton were produced in 2011. Need a Super Bowl LVI championship shirt? They’re made from cotton!

And maybe agriculture will make it in another commercial this year, too.

So, while I’ll be enjoying my fair share of wings, picking my favorite commercial and cheering loudly, I’ll also be rooting for agriculture.

What are your plans for the big game?