Beginning this month, the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Great Plains Technology & Manufacturing Cluster, K-State Technology Development Institute, and Kansas Manufacturing Solutions will feature quarterly webinars focused on the Kansas agriculture equipment manufacturing and sales sector.

The first webinar in the series will be held Wednesday, October 27, at 3:00 p.m. and will focus on partnerships for shared success. This webinar will feature Kansas manufacturers SureFire Ag (Atwood), ShieldAg (Hutchinson), and Farmada (Assaria) as they share their story of collaboration in innovating and marketing the Farmada NH3 toolbar.

The webinar is free and open to anyone but will be geared toward supporting owners and operators of Kansas agricultural equipment manufacturing companies. For more information on the webinar series, go to agriculture.ks.gov/BusinessDevelopment or contact Russell Plaschka, KDA agribusiness development director, at 785-564-7466 or Russell.Plaschka@ks.gov.

Kansas is home to agricultural companies of all sizes specializing in equipment for livestock and farming. Many of these companies have an international presence and impressive market penetration within the United States. The farm machinery and equipment manufacturing industry contributes $4.0 billion to the Kansas economy and is the 37th largest industry in the state. Nearly 90 percent of Kansas’ land mass is devoted to farming and ranching, providing ample customers for agricultural manufacturers’ product lines.

It is the mission of KDA to support all facets of agriculture, including lending support to Kansas businesses which specialize in the manufacturing and sales of agriculture equipment. KDA’s Ag Growth Project has included a focus on this sector of the Kansas agriculture industry through small group meetings and at the Ag Growth Summit since 2016.