Agriculture Innovation Initiative

Agriculture Innovation Initiative

An investment to leverage our core areas of strength in new and exciting ways for food, agriculture and beyond — bringing together the unparalleled K-State student experience, teaching, discovery and engagement to spark groundbreaking interdisciplinary ideation and generate positive economic, community and societal impacts.

A 2024 Year in Review of the Ag Innovation Initiative

Watch as we showcase construction progress, stakeholder events and recognition of the good work this past year.

 

Campaign Progress

$210,000,000 Goal

7718890%

$189278133*

*State, philanthropic, and university total funds.

What is an Interdisciplinary Focus?

An interdisciplinary focus involves crossing boundaries between traditional academic areas like agronomic breeding, biological ag engineering and statistics to address complex issues like how to use digital ag tools to make informed, data-driven decisions. These issues will take multiple tools and skills to understand and solve. See how the Ag Innovation Initiative is bringing Interdisciplinary Focus to life.

Learn more

 

Bilbrey Construction Site

Catch the latest Construction Updates

View the latest facilities updates by watching the livestream cameras, getting your questions answered in the frequently asked questions section and looking at the monthly photos and drone videos of each construction site.





Stay In the Know

Read about the latest news and updates on our progress toward the Agriculture Innovation Initiative's ambitious goals. Sign-up for the monthly newsletter for the most recent news on the Agriculture Innovation Initiative.

Sign-up for the Monthly Ag Innovation Initiative Newsletter
New Dairy Bar Rendering

Call Hall Dairy Bar Temporary Closure & Renderings of New Space

May 20, 2025

The Call Hall Dairy Bar is now temporarily closed to allow for renovations to Call Hall. View the new dairy bar renderings and llearn when the new space will open in the Global Center.

 

New Dairy Bar Rendering

Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation Beam Signing & Topping Out Milestones

May 7, 2025

The Beam Signing and Topping Out events celebrated a major construction milestone for the new Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation.

 

Bilbrey Family Event Center Construction Site

2024 Ag Innovation Initiative Year in Review

December 18, 2024

Watch a video recapping the progress made in 2024 for the initiative and read about the milestones accomplished this year.

 

See more In the Know stories

About our Facilities

Our state-of-the-art facilities will have engaging research and workspaces to promote creativity and innovation by encouraging students, faculty and partners to explore novel ways of approaching problems. This approach trains the future workforce in collaborative thinking with other disciplines and strengthens public-private partnership opportunities.

 

Agronomy Research and Innovation Center

This center will bring research teams together from all around campus, working hand-in-hand with industry to make new discoveries in areas such as crop production or soil health and develop new solutions for issues like water management that are resilient, efficient, profitable and sustainable for generations to come.

competition arena inside view

This project includes a new multispecies event center with a competition arena to support teaching and youth and extension efforts in equine and livestock sciences.

Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation

The global agriculture and food sectors are increasingly complex, and investments in this new center strategically connect K-State’s world-renowned animal science and food science programs with our unique grains science programs to address both opportunities and challenges.

Weber and Call Hall Renovations

The future is bright for top talent in Animal Sciences and Industry students, faculty, researchers and industry partners. The Ag Innovation Initiative helps connect the top talent already in the College of Agriculture to new top tier facilities including proposed updates to Weber and Call Hall.

 

What people are saying
The Agriculture Innovation Initiative at Kansas State University is very unique. Kansas is a leading agricultural state that has adapted; it's changed. With these changes, it’s time for a change in approach. Problems in Agriculture involve many cultural, societal and economic filters. With these multifaceted issues, institutions in higher education have to become more interdisciplinary oriented. We have to ask questions like, “How do we bring the best and brightest minds from all aspects of an institution together to solve the grand challenges for the state, the country and the world?” Then, these institutions have to help solve them.
Marshall Stewart, Executive Vice President, Kansas State University
There are so many progressive opportunities within ag. On campus, Kansas State has a nice shiny new business building, architecture building and engineering building. They attract those who don't come from an ag background. The College of Ag needs similar buildings here at Kansas State. These buildings will attract students so that we can have the most diverse and thought-provoking student body and faculty and faculty so that the College can have a diverse and thought-provoking student body. The Ag Innovation Initiative is needed to keep Kansas State world-class in everything it does.
Troy Anderson, Vice President of Operations, Ardent Mills

Invitation to invest

Now is the time to invest — Kansas State University has an inspiring opportunity. To help the world’s ability to feed two billion more people by 2050. To contribute to a Kansas economy that thrives. To optimize agriculture for the highest levels of efficiency and yield. The sky’s the limit.

Give today