June 2026
K-State in the news
Some of the top stories mentioning Kansas State University are posted below. Download an Excel file (xlsx) with all of this month's news stories.
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
National/International
Why an eradicated parasite is back in the American Southwest+
07/06/26 Straight Arrow News
The new world screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that infects cows and was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1966, is roaring back as other diseases and parasites push deeper into the country. Screwworm has already spread through Central America and more than two dozen cases were detected in Texas and New Mexico this June, according to the USDA. “Whether it’s ticks or insects, they will occupy any environment where they can survive,” said Cassandra Olds, a livestock entomologist at Kansas State University’s agricultural extension. “You will see pest populations move into areas where they were not a problem before.”
State/Regional
‘The fruits of the work coming into life,’ UMKC launches hydroponic farming program to fight food insecurity
07/06/26 KSHB-TV
As food prices remain high and access to fresh produce continues to challenge many Kansas City neighborhoods, the University of Missouri-Kansas City is turning Flarsheim Hall into a working farm. What started as a single hydroponic growing system in the hall has grown into a USDA-NIFA-funded initiative to develop a controlled-environment agriculture certification program. The program is a collaboration between UMKC, the University of Missouri, Kansas State University and Kansas State University Olathe.
Kansas City Pig Rescue Network saves piglet who jumped off truck on highway
07/06/26 KSNW-TV
The Kansas City Pig Rescue Network highlighted the important role of veterinary expertise from universities, including Kansas State University, in providing specialized care for pet pigs. The organization said its ongoing collaboration with K-State helps expand research and knowledge that benefits veterinarians, rescue organizations and pig owners.
Monday, July 6, 2026
National/International
Rapid response fueled by research
7/04/2026 AGRI-VIEW
In livestock disease response, timing determines whether an outbreak is contained or cascades through the entire production system. Research from Kansas State University suggests that the window may be as short as eight to 10 days. In modeling scenarios, outbreaks detected within that timeframe remained relatively small. When detection came later, the scale increased quickly, reaching hundreds or even thousands of operations.
K-State Graduate Student Explores Cattle Grazing As Invasive Grass Management Tool
7/1/2026 Farms.com
Growing up on a Nebraska cow-calf operation, Tasha Macholan saw how drought and changing pasture conditions could complicate livestock management. Now a Kansas State University graduate student in the Department of Animal Science and Industry, she is studying whether one routine management decision — where producers place cattle supplement — could improve calf performance while helping manage invasive Old World bluestem.
State/Regional
Groundwater in parts of Kansas is so polluted it can replace some fertilizer
7/2/2026 KCUR and KPR
Dorivar Ruiz Diaz is a professor of soil fertility and managing nutrients at Kansas State University. He said Kansas crops need nutrients like nitrogen to produce at a high level. "Good yielding corn, it could be in 180 to over 200 pounds of nitrogen (per acre)," Ruiz Diaz said. Things like nitrogen, sulfur and chloride used to be naturally present in soils across the prairie. But after decades of maximizing crop growth, those nutrients started disappearing. Now, farmers need to help the soil by adding nutrients back in. …Nathan Nelson, soil fertility professor with Kansas State University, said he encourages farmers to check their nitrate levels because this helps them financially, but it also helps the environment. "They can reduce the fertilizer bill and the fertilizer cost," he said. "At the same time, by doing that, we'll reduce nitrogen leaching and in the future we will have cleaner water."
K-State conducts regenerative agriculture research alongside Kansas farmers
7/2/2026 Rural Messenger
One after another, visitors to the Guetterman Brothers Family Farms near Kansas’ eastern border recently found themselves digging up a clump of soil in freshly-sown and developing crop fields. Their curiosity had gotten the best of them. Minutes before, they had listened to fifth-generation farmer Hayden Guetterman explain his family’s steadfast pledge to improve their farm ground with soil health practices collectively known as regenerative agriculture. "Regenerative agriculture," says Kansas State University soil scientist Charles Rice, "is a concept that started with soils that have been degraded, followed by designing practices to regenerate or rebuild those soils to make them more productive."
Local
Kansas wheat harvest is struggling, while summer crops are thriving: K-State Research
7/1/2026 KSNT
2026's wheat crop harvest is observed to be difficult for some Kansans. The growing season started hot and dry, causing the wheat to mature faster than normal. That meant the crop reached its flowering stage just as Kansas suffered from mid-spring freezes, damaging part of the plant that produces grain. "The most typical symptom when we think about freeze damage is the head of the wheat getting burned back. They don't produce any grain because those flowers die back. So, you get a wheat head that may look good from the road, but you start touching it and there is really no grain there. There may be 4 or 5 grains when you can expect 25 to 30," said Romulo Lollato, a professor of Agronomy at Kansas State University.