College of Agriculture scientists, ...
... economists and community leaders moved quickly to find solutions to COVID-19 related challenges to strengthen our agricultural economy, restore our food supply chain, and help keep our families healthy and strong.
Experts from the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension worked in collaboration with state and national lawmakers and agencies, ag producers and leaders from business and industry to identify and solve problems. K-State responded with a number of ways to share the latest, critical information through websites, media releases, webinars, podcasts, social media, online gatherings, radio programming and fact sheets to keep citizens and other stakeholders informed.
This is a summary of their contributions. A full list of resources and contributions are available at kstate.ag/KSRE-COVID-19.
Restoration of Business
AgManager Website
The Department of Agricultural Economics offers comprehensive information, analysis and decision-making tools for agricultural producers, agribusinesses and policy makers on its AgManager.info website. Updated daily, the site includes “Economics of Agriculture During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Series of Online Gatherings,” (kstate.ag/agecon-COVID) and weekly online presentations focused on a different aspect of how COVID-19 is affecting agriculture. So far, faculty have addressed the livestock and grain markets, Kansas land values and the state income report.
“Everyone is adjusting to many things for the first time in their life in many ways. The (meat) supply chain is taxed, and that shows up in the marketplace — and even analysts and folks like me are taxed — so we’re doing our best,” said Glynn Tonsor, a professor for the Department of Agricultural Economics and a regular presenter for this series. “We focus on providing the latest, best information to help people make good decisions.”
“We focus on providing the latest, best information to help people make good decisions.”
National media have relied on Agricultural Economics faculty for information on COVID-19 and its impact on agriculture. Faculty have been consulted and quoted by nearly all major agriculture media and the nation’s major media outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, “CBS Evening News,” TIME magazine, Barron’s, The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report.
Women in Agriculture
When COVID-19 hit, K-State agricultural economists Robin Reid and LaVell Winsor knew immediately what they could do to help. Having developed and co-led the series, “Farm Financial Skills for Kansas Women in Ag” in January and February with nearly 700 participants, the two decided to offer a new version. This time the program was conducted completely online, and addressed concerns related to COVID-19, with topics such as stress relief and mental health issues.
“What surprised me most about the original program and why we thought it was important to offer follow-up support is that the women who participated certainly wanted to learn more about the business aspects of farming, but what they seemed to want most was the chance to meet and network with other women who shared their experiences and struggles,” Reid said. “COVID-19 has really heightened the stress level, and we hope we can help women and their families.”
“... what they seemed to want most was the chance to meet and network with other women who shared their struggles.”
The presentations were offered in early April and a recording can be found at kstate.ag/womeninagCOVID19.
Human Health
Emergency Call for Research
Food Science Institute faculty quickly responded to an emergency call for research proposals addressing the most pressing needs related to COVID-19 and agriculture. These grants will be funded through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The first proposal addresses worker safety in meat and poultry plants. The grant would allow the team to discover new ways to protect workers’ health by reducing the spread of the virus within food manufacturing facilities. The proposal is being co-led by Randall Phebus, professor in the Food Science Institute, and Sally Davis, assistant professor within the College of Veterinary Medicine, and includes other Food Science Institute faculty, colleagues from the University of Georgia, and leaders representing the country’s largest meat processing plants.
“Keeping meat processing plants free of COVID-19 comes with extra complications,” Phebus said. “The workers stand side by side, handling knives and saws, and sending the meat cuts they just touched down a conveyor belt to be handled by many other workers.”
Jeanette Thurston, director of the Food Science Institute, and Davis are also submitting another grant proposal to purchase an instrument that will streamline and provide consistent analysis of viral infectivity necessary for research of known and emerging viruses important to food safety; veterinary medicine; and water, air and soil health.
According to Thurston, “This equipment would be used by researchers across the university and increase the capabilities and breadth of research addressing not only current, but also future global food, health and biosecurity challenges.”
Food Safety Outreach
Karen Blakeslee, extension associate, and other members of the K-State Research and Extension food safety team are delivering critical information to consumers and farmers market providers on food safety issues with their new webpage about food safety and COVID 19, kstate.ag/foodsafety. It includes an “ask an expert” link where people can ask specific questions and get answers from K-State experts.
“COVID-19 has dramatically increased the interest in health and food safety issues,” Blakeslee said. “We want to provide people with easy access to information to help keep themselves, their families and customers safe.”
Costs And Markets
Impact on Livestock
The closure or reduced capacity of meat processing plants has resulted in a backlog of animals waiting to go to market. This is an obvious problem for the processing industry. For producers, this results in lower market prices, higher feed costs and even possible euthanasia of animals as a result of reduced processing capacity.
“The approach to these challenges by the Animal Sciences and Industry department has been multifaceted,” said Michael Day, professor and chair of that department. “On the processing side, efforts have targeted education to increase safety of workers in processing plants to help sustain capacity. On the producer side, education regarding approaches that can be taken to reduce this backlog is one main area of emphasis. For example, information on management alternatives and/or feeding programs that can postpone time of slaughter until more processing capacity is available have been provided.”
“On the processing side, efforts have targeted education to increase safety of workers in processing plants to help sustain capacity. On the producer side, education regarding approaches that can be taken to reduce this backlog is one main area of emphasis.”
As some producers are faced with the possibility of needing to euthanize livestock as they run out of room in their facilities, ASI faculty have also provided expertise to help ensure the welfare of animals, the environment and producers.
Department faculty are addressing issues related to feed, as well. The lack of ethanol production is affecting the availability of key feedstuffs — distillers grains and corn gluten feed. The faculty are focused on developing new rations with alternative feedstuffs and dealing with the important questions related to cost, impact on value — and the possible impact on meat quality.
The COVID-19 restrictions have also created a decrease in the demand and price received for milk. Much like with meat animals, ASI faculty are involved in many facets of how to address this situation. Some examples are reduction of feed costs and in some cases, milk production. Alternative feeds are also an issue with dairy production, since distillers grains and corn gluten feed are key components in total mixed rations. To further increase feed margin, specialists are working with producers to identify lower cost feedstuffs and to improve the efficiency of feed utilization. And, in the instance when milk cannot be processed, information about how to dispose of the unused milk and its use as a feed are being provided.
To help ag producers and industries, ASI faculty have been providing consultation, fact sheets, podcasts, webinars and radio programs throughout Kansas and the nation on how to approach these many COVID-19 related challenges.
Translating National and State COVID-19 Policy
Helping Citizens and Industry Benefit from the CARES Act
Agricultural Economics faculty worked closely with Kansas lawmakers to quickly translate the U.S. CARES Act and help the Kansas businesses and citizens benefit from it. This $2 trillion relief package includes direct financial assistance to Americans; aid to small businesses and employees; efforts to stabilize the economy and keep people employed; and support for patients, health care providers and hospitals.
Agricultural economics faculty hosted online gatherings and posted articles and videos on their website, kstate.ag/AGandCARES, to help people from around the state learn more about the CARES Act, what it offers and how to apply.
The faculty also helped businesses gain financial support through the Payroll Protection Program, which is funded through the CARES Act and provides businesses with 500 employees or less access to short-term loans to finance up to 2.5 months of their employee pay and health care benefits, mortgage loans or rent, utilities and other debts.
Supporting Families
Putting the Mill to Work
The Department of Grain Science and Industry re-opened the Hal Ross Flour Mill to manufacture flour to help fill the void of short flour supplies in local grocery stores. On June 18, the university hosted a drive-through distribution. Free, 10-pound bags of all-purpose white flour was handed out, one per vehicle. In total, 15,000 pounds of flour were distributed.
The mill had been temporarily closed for needed repairs. As faculty members noticed the absence of flour on store shelves, they wondered if the university’s milling facilities could be used to help. The idea received unanimous support from college and university leadership.
“We know people are struggling with basic food supplies, including flour. It’s something K-State and the department could do,” said Gordon Smith, professor and head of the Department of Grain Science and Industry. “We have a mill, we have highly skilled faculty to run the mill, and continued support from the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas wheat farmers. It is a locally sourced, farm-to-table, philanthropic endeavor by K-State.”
“We know people are struggling with basic food supplies, including flour. It’s something K-State and the department could do ...”
To prepare for the distribution, 20,000 pounds of wheat were milled by departmental faculty with special help from K-State President Richard Myers. Ten hours of milling yielded the 15,000 pounds flour. The remaining parts of the wheat berry not used in the flour will be used for animal feed.
Victory Garden Series
Victory Gardens are making a comeback with the help of Rebecca McMahon, the horticulture food crops agent for K-State Research and Extension’s Sedgwick County office. In April, McMahon launched Victory Garden 101, a free, eight-week online gardening course to set aspiring gardeners up for success. By the May 5 class, there were 820 people from Kansas and several other states participating.
The concept of a Victory Garden dates back to World War II, when Americans were encouraged to plant a home garden to provide food during a time when many of the country’s agricultural products were being used to support the war effort. The class is designed to help people grow some of their own food to add to their community’s food security while saving money on their grocery bill.
“Gardening is a great thing anytime, pandemic or not,” McMahon said. “I encourage folks to pick up vegetable gardening as a great opportunity for learning with their kids, being active and adding vegetables and healthy food to their diet.”
The live weekly sessions are now filled, but recordings of all the lessons are available to watch at kstate.ag/VictoryGarden101.
Educating Students
Making it Work
When K-State announced students would not return to campus following spring break to prevent the spread of COVID-19, faculty pivoted quickly to move all face-to-face classes to online teaching. This was particularly challenging for those who live in remote areas and have unreliable internet service.
Teresa Douthit, an animal science professor, and her family live on a ranch south of Junction City, where cable internet isn’t available and they have to rely on satellite internet. Douthit quickly tested several methods of online teaching that would accommodate internet service that wasn’t always reliable.
“When I used Zoom for meetings there would be big delays, and I would get kicked out of the session,” Douthit explained. “Using Mediasite, it takes four days to upload 20 minutes of a lecture, and I needed to post two hours of lectures each week. Working synchronously with the students wasn’t going to work.”
Mediasite is a distribution platform used by K-State and many other universities that allows instructors to create lecture- and presentation-videos that students can watch on their computers or mobile devices.
Douthit’s solution was to upload her lectures up to a month ahead of schedule and to be extremely organized. Using PowerPoint slides with audio recordings to present her lectures, Douthit would post a week’s worth of presentations, homework, quizzes and tests (designed to encourage independent work). Students would have a week to watch the lectures and complete their assignments, and Douthit was available throughout each week to answer questions or discuss material through chat. “The students said they appreciated the organization of the class,” said Douthit. “And they did very well.”
Summer Research Fellowship
Creative solutions were also developed to allow K-State Research and Extension to continue the annual Summer Research Fellowship, an eight-week program designed to better prepare minority undergraduate students from land-grant colleges and universities for graduate or professional school. In previous years, participants lived on campus, worked in college labs with faculty and attended lectures on campus. This year, the entire program is being conducted online, with faculty mentors guiding their research and lectures being conducted through Zoom or Teams. The students are also learning how to present their work through video and social media to showcase their work to a broad audience.
“This wasn’t a program we were willing to cancel even though our campus was closed,” said Zelia Wiley, assistant dean and director of the college diversity programs. “In the past, it’s been very successful in helping students prepare and be admitted into graduate school. I’m proud of how so many of our college faculty and administrators came together quickly to find new ways to make this a great experience for the participants.”
"I’m proud of how so many of our college faculty and administrators came together quickly to find new ways to make this a great experience for the participants.”
This year’s students come from Clarke University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University Agricultural and Mechanical College, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas, University of Georgia and Virginia State University.