Kansas State University will offer a four-part series of workshops to teach risk management skills for Kansas women in agriculture in January.

The sessions are meant to build upon each other, so registration will cover the four main sessions (Jan. 12, 19 and 26, and Feb. 2), with the option of adding a fifth session (Feb. 23) that covers beef cow-calf risk management topics. The sessions will be held simultaneously at locations across the state — participants will attend the location closest to them, where they’ll learn from a combination of broadcasted keynote speakers, local speakers and facilitators who will be on hand to assist in completing the hands-on activities.

Registration is $50 by Dec. 31, and $75 afterward. More details can be found at bit.ly/ksuriskmgmt. 

Women Managing the Farm

Registration is open for the 2022 Women Managing the Farm conference, to be held Feb. 9-11 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan. This year’s keynote speaker will be Courtenay DeHoff. Sessions are designed to help women thrive in their rural communities and stay informed on the latest advancements in agriculture.

For more information and to register, visit womenmanagingthefarm.com.

Rural STEM education

The Rural Education Center in Kansas State University's College of Education has been awarded a three-year U.S. Department of Defense grant for nearly $2.7 million to help mentor and promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees and careers to seventh- through 12th-grade students throughout the state.

The project is part of more than $47 million in awards recently announced under the National Defense Education Program in STEM, Biotechnology and Enhanced Civics Education.

In partnership with the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, the Rural Education Center plans to build upon the College of Education's successful Summer STEM Institute to encourage middle and high school students in Kansas to consider careers in STEM through Project LEAPES (Learning, Exploration and Application for Prospective Engineering Students).

School districts and industry leaders interested in learning more about this program should contact the Rural Education Center at 785-532-3977 or [email protected].

Exporter of the Year

On Dec. 6, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly awarded Black & Veatch, an engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company based in Overland Park, the 2021 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award. Conestoga Energy, a Liberal-based renewable biofuel producer, was also a finalist for the award.

Each year, the Exporter of the Year Award is given to the top export business in the state, recognizing the influence the export industry has on our state’s economy.