The Kansas Ag Research & Technology Association (KARTA) is a grassroots association for producers, researchers, and agriculture industry leaders who share a common desire to keep up with trends in production agriculture.
KARTA is an organization of innovative people who share a common desire to learn more about production agriculture. The nonprofit organization uses its revenues to provide grants to facilitate on-farm research projects and instructional workshops on the hardware and software necessary to conduct research trials. Their goal is to keep members and the agricultural industry on the forefront of new technology.
This conference is an applied workshop consolidating information about new and old technologies with a focus on supporting scientifically valid on-farm research efforts and increasing overall farm business profitability. The on-farm research is actually done by the farmers in this association and grant funds are allocated to the dues paying members, conducting on-farm research to help with defraying possible expenses. If grant money is received the recipient is expected to give a formal report at the conference on the results of the on-farm study.
The 22nd Annual Kansas Agricultural Technologies Conference will be held Jan. 17-18, at the Courtyard by Marriott in Junction City. This annual event brings hundreds of agricultural producers and industry leaders together for a two-day interactive workshop on the use of technology in the ever-changing agriculture industry. Those in attendance at the conference will hear presentations from dynamic speakers on a wide variety of topics dealing with precision agriculture. The two-day event also includes vendor displays, the KARTA Annual Meeting, research presentations from grant recipients, and an interactive evening discussion that is always an attendee favorite.
Anyone who signs up on or before Dec. 31 can receive a $50 discount on their conference registration, which includes two days of meals and refreshments. The funds generated through the association dues and conference registrations are used to provide grants to facilitate on-farm research projects and instructional workshops on the hardware and software necessary to conduct agricultural research trials. There is also a subsidized student rate of $75 per person, catered to agricultural students at all of the state’s post-secondary educational institutions.
I have attended the conference and can say it is well worth the time and money. If you are a farmer that is interested or wants to go to the next level with precision agriculture technologies and applying them to your own farm for enhanced data collection, profitability or whatever the case may be, this conference and association may be a good fit. You could say it is a grass-roots group of farmers teaching and learning from each other’s trial and errors utilizing on-farm technology.
You can attend one or both days. To find out more about the Association, the upcoming conference and to register or to sign-up for their newsletter and even see some of the past on-farm research efforts and results go to https://www.karta-online.org
Stacy Campbell is an agriculture and natural resources agent for Cotton Extension District. Email him at scampbel@ksu.edu or call the Cotton Extension District Hays office, 785-628-9430.
