Enhancing Global Food Security and Biosecurity

K-State is working to improve the health of people, animals and the environment. This One Health approach involves expertise across the university to solve some of the world’s grand challenges in food, water, climate change, existing and emerging diseases and more.

Recent research by Jürgen Richt at the Biosecurity Research Institute, K-State’s BSL-3, ABSL-3 and BSL3-Ag research and education facility, found that the spread of bovine H5N1 influenza is linked to milking procedures.

"There are nearly 10 million dairy cows in the United States today. It is imperative that we study the ways this new disease transmits in dairy cows," Richt said. "Given the potential economic damage to the cattle industry and risk to human health presented by bovine H5N1, this research shows that establishing safe, sanitary milking procedures is a topic of substantial concern within the U.S. dairy industry."

Every day, the staff at Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine process hundreds of tests that protect family pets and livestock herds alike from disease. Veterinarians across the globe send samples to the lab for processing.

The diagnostic lab is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Health Laboratory Network, which monitors for outbreaks of diseases, such as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, that could lay ruin to the nation's livestock industry.

"We serve so many people here, and we have many resources to help people with a wide range of animal issues," said Jamie Retallick, director of the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. "We have people with zoo and wildlife backgrounds, people with poultry backgrounds, people with swine backgrounds — and that's just down the hall. There are all of these resources here to help, and we do this work often in the background."

To feed a growing world, food production needs to increase in a sustainable way. K-State researchers are developing new breeds of crops to grow in warmer climates and developing digital apps to help farmers know exactly when and how much to water a crop. This work helps farmers make data-driven decisions for maximum production.

Raj Khosla, professor and department head of agronomy in K-State’s College of Agriculture. For more than 10 years, he has been testing the use of biodegradable sensors to measure soil moisture and nitrogen content.

“One idea is that as a pivot is applying water in a field, you can ping sensors that are lined up in the next 20, 50 or even 100 feet of the pivot arm,” Khosla said. “That information is sent back to the computer to re-create the real-time soil-moisture data surface that the pivot is encountering while it is applying the water, and the farmer or artificial intelligence-based decision tools can change the rate of application if necessary. I think that’s going to be a big deal.”