Kansas State University has symbolically broken ground for the new Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation at its Manhattan, Kan., campus.

A ceremony May 17 brought students, faculty, alumni and supporters from the full spectrum of Kansas agriculture to witness the milestone that’s been decades in the making.

The Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation will be at the corner of Claflin Road and Mid-Campus Drive and will connect the current Weber and Call halls. Construction crews are already working on renovations to both Weber and Call halls, which will provide needed updates for student learning and research work. The center is expected to be completed by fall 2026.

According to K-State, the Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation will pull together faculty and staff from the departments of animal science — which includes food science, and grain science — in one location. It will also serve as a replacement for the aging Shellenberger Hall, longtime home of K-State’s Department of Grain Science and Industry.

Ag boom well underway

In the past year, K-State has undergone a building boom for its agricultural spaces under its Agriculture Innovation Initiative, which will create four new buildings and three remodeled spaces, according to the university. Previously it held groundbreaking events for the Agronomy Research and Innovation Center and the Bilbrey Family Event Center. Read more at Agriculture Innovation Initiative (k-state.edu).

The K-State Agriculture Innovation Initiative recently received a $25 million matching award from the Kansas Legislature. According to the university, in January the Kansas Legislature challenged it to raise $25 million in private donations for the initiative, and the state would match that. K-State hit that mark and to date has raised $176 million of its $210 million goal for agricultural infrastructure improvements.

Troy Anderson, Ardent Mills’ vice president of operations, was on hand at the Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation groundbreaking to make some remarks on behalf of the company, which has donated $3.5 million to the agriculture innovation initiative. He says contributing to K-State’s initiative is one way the milling company can help the students of today become the professionals of tomorrow who will help “nourish what’s next.” K-State is unique in the milling industry, offering the country’s only undergraduate degrees in milling science, bakery science, and feed and pet food processing.  

“These programs here need to be successful,” Anderson says. “And we’re just so excited about what it’s going to do for the next generation of leaders from a diversity and research perspective. All of those talents that are going to solve those problems we haven’t even gotten to yet — it’s all about nourishing what’s next.”

Ernie Minton, dean of the College of Agriculture, says the work to update and improve the facilities for agriculture programs has been a long time coming. This is the first step in transforming the university’s ability to meet the needs of students, and also meet the needs of Kansans and the world. The multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving that these facilities will foster will answer complex problems, he says.

Ag college aims to expand recruitment, retention

The College of Agriculture is working to increase student recruitment and retention. Minton says K-State’s reputation for excellence in its grain science and animal science programs is attracting many out-of-state students from traditional farm backgrounds. But, looking to the future, this initiative will also help the college recruit students from non-agricultural backgrounds.

“I think we have work to do with the urban students who don’t probably even realize there are opportunities in the grain and livestock food industry, because it’s just not on the radar of high school students,” he says.

The building boom on campus will bring state-of-the-art research and teaching spaces, upgrades to equipment and more. The Global Center will have a new retail space to sell Call Hall ice cream, and products from the bakery and meat science sectors as well; a pilot plant; modern milling and baking labs; and more. There will also be shared space in the building for collaboration between public and private groups.

K-State President Richard Linton called May 17 “a big day for the College of Agriculture, a historic day for K-State, and a transformational day for Kansas agriculture and our agriculture and food industry stakeholders.”

“Get ready,” he said. “Things are going to look and feel different at Kansas State University. Our agriculture impact locally and globally will reach new heights because of this project.”