Federal Grant Award Summary

Kansas State University received a $1,000,000 Project Grant from the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI, CFDA 10.310) beginning April 1, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2031. The grant supports the development and validation of optimized beef cow-calf production management systems tailored to the values, priorities, and operational limitations of producers, landowners, and lenders across diverse grassland ecosystems. The project addresses the complexity of estimating benefits from adopting new management practices by integrating knowledge of grassland ecosystems with decision-maker preferences and community stakeholder considerations.

The primary deliverables include the design of management systems specific to decision-maker values and production environments, identification of optimal management approaches validated through beef cow-calf production system modeling, and comprehensive education and outreach programs to enhance adoption rates among target audiences. The project will gather stakeholder input across three diverse production environments, utilize on-farm validation studies to build trust in simulation models, and employ an advisory group of cooperating decision makers to provide recurring feedback. Outputs will incorporate weather, soil, and forage data analysis to create resilient beef production systems that align with stakeholder priorities while advancing overall productivity and sustainability objectives.