Kansas State University (K-State) says it opened in 1863 as the first operational land-grant university in the United States. It has campuses in Manhattan, Salina and Olathe, plus K-State Online.
The College of Agriculture gives its undergraduate and graduate enrolment as 2,600 and its average annual research expenditure as $88 million. It organises research in five areas: animals and animal systems; grain and food systems, home to the Hal Ross Flour Mill and the International Grains Program; plants and plant systems; sustainability, profitability and management; and data and agricultural systems. The college cites access to the Biosecurity Research Institute (biosafety level 3) and a close working partnership with the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Its Agriculture Innovation Initiative, with a $210 million goal from state, philanthropic and university funds, includes the Western Star Global Grain and Food Center and the L. Eldon Gideon Agronomy Research and Innovation Complex, which the university says will bring research teams together with industry.