K-State and NASA collaborate for the health of Kansas agriculture
NASA scientists stopped by Flickner Innovation Farm for their “Space for Ag” tour with a different kind of space mission: working side by side with Kansas farmers to improve American agriculture.
While NASA provides space and satellite technology, K-State has the unique ability to test these capabilities on a real-world farm. Through this collaboration, they’re improving agricultural resilience and solving other common farming setbacks. Together, the two institutions can conquer these threats to agricultural health in ways they never could on their own.
Land-grant connection
Ray and Ryan Flickner operate the Flickner Innovation Farm, where they evaluate a range of agricultural innovations with K-State researchers.
The partnership delivers a great contribution to K-State’s mission as a land-grant institution.
K-State Vice President for Research Hans Coetzee claims this collaboration links satellite capabilities in space to actual scenarios on Kansas farms.
“Working with producers in a real-world environment allows us to determine whether these new technologies are practical, refine them based on what we learn and help move useful knowledge into the field,” he said.
The future of agriculture
NASA’s new missions and goals with this tour align with K-State’s plans in agriculture per the land-grant mission. As they launch more missions, more capabilities will become available for the Flickner Innovation Farm and other Kansas farms.
The director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, Karen St. Germain, emphasizes her enthusiasm for the upcoming capabilities NASA can provide for Kansas farmers.
“I am really excited for the future of this partnership. Every year, we’re bringing new capabilities online,” she said. “These conversations with Kansas farmers actually inform the next satellite that’s going to be deployed, so that it can continue to be more and more useful.”
K-State will continue to partner with NASA to use space-based capabilities to strengthen American agriculture. The new data and technology will help K-State improve the productivity and resilience of Kansas farms.
Curated from Flickner Innovation Farm partners with NASA, K-State for sustainability work through satellite data