Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We are deep into the harvest season and winter is approaching. The changing season signals a busy time for KCARE: we are launching number of new projects, submitting reports, and there are many upcoming meetings and conferences. To keep yourself up-to-date, I invite you to follow KCARE’s new Twitter page, @KStateKCARE. Please send us your news and events so we can get your information out to our followers!
I want to particularly remind everyone about two upcoming events. The Governor’s Water Conference will be held in Manhattan on November 8-9. This years’ program looks outstanding, and I suggest registering as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Prior to the Governor’s Conference, on November 6-7, K-State will host a project meeting NIFA Ogallala Water CAP project meeting. Irrigation and water research and extension faculty from K-State and eight other universities will take part in the discussion about irrigation and water research. I am looking forward to seeing our results from 2017 and making plans for next year’s research and extension activities.
Research into new irrigation technologies is one of the areas that has been identified as a funding priority. With this in mind, I have been meeting with the Kansas Water Office for the last several months, along with other agencies and KU folks to coordinate our research. All of us want to work toward getting some water plan funding for priority research needs, but to do so, we need to have an in-person discussion about everyone’s current research and also to determine future irrigation research priorities. To help this process, I have scheduled a planning meeting following the Governor’s Water Conference. I invite you to join us at 2:25 p.m. on November 9 in the Flint Hills/Kings/Konza room at the Hilton Conference Center in Manhattan. Please come and discuss priorities and needs!
Other water research projects are on the horizon. The Kansas Water Research Institute (KWRI) received 18 pre-proposals from water faculty from K-State and KU. Accepted projects will receive funding for 2018-2019. We will be making final decisions on funding by the end of the year, and I will be sure to keep you posted.
It has been my pleasure to work with many talented scientists over the years, and I enjoy celebrating every success. Today, I am excited to announce that the K-State Irrigation Team was awarded one of the NRCS National Conservation Innovation Grants to help expand the efforts on irrigation technology demonstrations and allow expansion of the technology farms. Well done, everyone!
Finally, K-State Agronomy is having a large field day at our Ashland Research Unit on November 3 that is focusing on our cover crop research. We have a large, diverse research program on cover crops and I look forward to seeing our researchers present their results and conclusions.
I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences and meetings as the fall progresses. Please contact me if you have any questions or want to give some advice!
Dan