The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s weights and measures program announces Weights and Measures Week, held every year from March 1-7 to commemorate President John Adams’ signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799. KDA will hold a Weights and Measures Open House on Monday, March 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Manhattan KDA office, 1320 Research Park Dr., to present information about the role they play in consumer protection. The Open House will include exhibits of some of the tools and equipment used in the program, a “guess the weight” contest with a From the Land of Kansas prize package valued at $100, and more.
The weights and measures program at KDA is divided into two separate units, the Marketplace Equity Protection Program (MEPP) and the Petroleum Measurement Evaluation Program (PMEP), both working to license private service companies and technicians and to develop training and outreach programs. MEPP regulates all commercial scales, mass flow meters, and grain moisture meters, and works to ensure stated net weight is correct on pre-packaged products and in-store prices ring up as advertised. PMEP regulates all retail fuel dispensers, vehicle tank meters, liquified petroleum gas meters, fuel quality, and all other meters used in direct sale transactions.
“The weights and measures program plays an important role in KDA’s mission to provide consumer protection to the best of our ability, in addition to serving Kansas farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses,” said Jackie McClaskey, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture. “We serve the state through this program by ensuring reasonable commercial standards to protect Kansas consumers while adapting to the changes in the Kansas marketplace.”
The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) declared a theme for this year’s recognition week, “Back to the Basics as We Arrive in the Cloud,” acknowledging that measuring devices and systems have evolved greatly to accommodate the expanding technologies of the 21st century. NCWM is a professional nonprofit association of state and local weights and measures officials, federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. Learn more about NCWM at www.ncwm.net.
Learn more about the KDA weights and measures program at agriculture.ks.gov/WeightsMeasures.