Senator Marshall Announces $1.5 Million for Kansas State Ag Research Initiatives

(Manhattan, KS, January 14, 2021) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded funding for three unique programs under the agency’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. Kansas State University received a total of $1,454,987 in funding from the USDA to continue its work on crop and livestock issues impacting Kansas farmers and ranchers.

“Kansas State University has a long history of research and innovation that has substantially improved our nation’s agriculture industry,” said Senator Marshall. “All three of these research initiatives have a direct impact on Kansas farmers and ranchers and have the potential to make impactful changes within the various segments on the agriculture industry. I am proud of the work K-State continues to do to support our farm families.”

The grant funding will be used as follows:

$454,987 from the Food Safety and Defense Program will provide a system-wide modeling approach to identify the factors that may influence the contamination of the wheat supply chain by pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella.

$500,000 from the Animal Breeding and Functional Annotation of Genomes program will be used to create prototype selection tools for bull fertility utilizing conception data, semen quality metrics, and BSE data on beef bulls.

$500,000 from the Physiology of Agricultural Plants program will be used to investigate the genetic and phenotypic responses of A. gerardii, of the most dominate forage grasses in the Midwest, to drought conditions and construct a predictive spatial model for forecasting future responses to drought.