Kansas Grain Sorghum sponsors harvest experience for K-State sorghum research team
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Released: Nov. 16, 2015
MANHATTAN, Kan. – With the busy harvest season, some family farms might hesitate at dialing back a day to showcase production agriculture. Cott Family Farms in Clay County, however, welcomed the opportunity.
Richard Cott and his son Kyle rolled out the red carpet earlier this fall and not only engaged K-State sorghum researchers in a combine ride, but also had meaningful discussions on the impact of new crop technologies at the farm level. The day was arranged by the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission.
"When I received the call to support this experience, Cott Family Farms wanted to participate and do our part to share the production story with our researchers at K-State. The research team and our family both spend a lot of time thinking about sorghum, but we are thinking in two different worlds, the lab and the field," Kyle Cott said.
The K-State research team making the farm visit was led by Geoff Morris, assistant professor of sorghum genetics and genomics. Other members included Sandeep Marla, research associate; Davina Rhodes, visiting scholar; and graduate students Fanna Maina and Brian Wempe.
Morris and his team are dedicated to discovering new opportunities within the sorghum genome for improved sorghum cold tolerance and other breeding objectives, eventually leading to improved hybrids for farmer fields.
The KGSC recognizes the importance of K-State research and the value of ongoing close interaction between researchers and sorghum farmers in Kansas.
"Kansas farmers know that sorghum drives farm profitability and is an excellent cropping choice in their rotation, but farmers need new management tools at the farm gate and that is why the commission partners with K-State," said Pat Damman, director of Kansas Grain Sorghum.
The KGSC recently invested more than $780,000 with K-State Research and Extension for 2015-2016 crop improvement research.
"Our commissioners believe in supporting a team of K-State researchers with diverse disciplines, all dedicated to sorghum research. With this harvest experience the commission expanded its investment beyond dollars and to direct researcher experience and understanding of production agriculture," said Jill Barnhardt, KGSC administrator.
Maintaining a close collaboration between researchers, producers, and Kansas Grain Sorghum provides many benefits to the K-State research effort, said Gary Pierzynski, agronomy department head and distinguished professor.
"As a land grant university, we pride ourselves on using the entire spectrum of basic to applied research to solve real world problems for agriculture. The opportunity for one of our research groups to participate in sorghum harvest was an excellent way for us to maintain and strengthen our connection with producers," Pierzynski said.
Morris said the farm visit was interesting and valuable for the research team.
"It was very impressive to see the technological sophistication of the Kansas sorghum grower first hand. There is no question, Kansas producers are ready for the new technologies being developed by sorghum researchers at K-State and elsewhere. As researchers, it's inspiring to hear directly from producers about opportunities and challenges on their farms," Morris said.
"It was also great to see the spirit of global cooperation in the sorghum community. The Cott family and their employees were very generous in sharing their knowledge and perspective with these young scientists who have come a long way from as far as Africa and Asia to be part of the sorghum improvement team at K-State," he added.
"I grew up in India where acreage is small and traditional farming is still being practiced," said Sandeep Marla. "Mechanization of agriculture is happening in India, but at a slower pace. During my visit to Cott Farms, watching a large scale mechanized farming operation with GPS-equipped combines and tractors was fascinating. This visit made me realize the importance of understanding farmer's requirements and orienting our research towards finding solutions for improving crop yields and achieving global food security."
Kyle Cott said his family also found the experience to be valuable in many respects.
"We learned a lot, and we left the research team with a clear understanding of what farmers need from the research community," he said.
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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.
Story by:
Steve Watson, swatson@ksu.edu
Jill Barnhardt, Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, jill@ksgrainsorghum.org
Additional Information:
Geoff Morris is at 785-532-3397 or gpmorris@ksu.edu
