Groundbreaking for Kansas State University’s new Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation was held Friday afternoon east of Weber Hall.
The new facility will allocate 30% of space for on-site collaboration between public resources and private enterprises and will provide an overall modernized facility for the K-State Department of Grain Science and Industry, which specializes in milling, baking, feed and pet food. The center is the final and largest piece of the $210 million K-State Agriculture Innovation Initiative, which includes funds raised from state, private and university funds.
“It’s an historic day. It’s a transformational day for Kansas agriculture and for our agriculture and food industry stakeholders,” said K-State President Richard Linton. “Get ready. Things are going to look and feel different at Kansas State University. Our agricultural impact locally and globally are going to reach new heights because of this project.”
Dean of the K-State College of Agriculture Dr. Ernie Minton has helped lead the charge toward the overhaul of aging facilities, noting the university’s ambitious plan to make K-State the Next-Generation Land Grant University.
“We want to be the example of what a land grant university should be in the 21st century,” he said.
Denver, Colorado-based flour-milling and ingredient company Ardent Mills is a key donor to the K-State Agriculture Innovation Initiative, donating $3.5 million to the project in March 2023. Vice President of Operations Troy Anderson says the interdisciplinary work that will be possible at the new center will help them grow their workforce and solve industry challenges.
“The opportunities whether it’s research or industry engagement that’s going to bring the College of Ag, the College of Engineering and the College of Business together to solve these problems that people like us need help solving, is one of the most value driven aspects that’s going to come,” he said.
The Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation is expected to be completed sometime in 2026 and will connect Weber and Call Hall, which will also undergo renovations. It also will replace Shellenberger Hall, home to the Department of Grain Science and Industry. Anderson says he believes the new center will be a major attraction for students they’ve long struggled to attract to the industry.
“Farm kids like me don’t mind walking into a building that was built 100 years ago, but it has been a struggle specifically to recruit high potential urban students that don’t necessarily come from an ag background and wouldn’t necessarily walk into a building like Shellenberger,” he said.
President Linton agrees and says the new center should be another tool aimed at helping with the university’s overall mission to grow enrollment.
“I’m anticipating this year we’ll be up about 500 students, but it’s things like this. It’s projects like this that make a huge difference in creating a land grant university that’s a next generation land grant that attracts more students,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall says the project will be important to the nation’s global food security.
“It’s very unique to the entire world for that matter, so people from all over the world can send folks here to figure out how to take Kansas wheat or maybe it’s Michigan soybeans whatever we turn that into as well, so I think across the country, across the world, this (center) will have a big impact.” he said.
The Agriculture Innovation Initiative also includes an under construction new Agronomy Research and Innovation Center and a new animal sciences arena to be located near the Stanley Stout Center on the north end of the campus.
