TAPS Awards Banquet
K-State Hosts Inaugural KSU-TAPS Banquet
Farmers, industry leaders, and the community are invited to celebrate agricultural innovation and learn about the 2025 TAPS expansion.
Kansas State University (K-State) will host the first Kansas TAPS Banquet in Dodge City, Kansas, on January 18, 2025, marking a significant milestone for this producer-led farm management competition. Since its launch in October 2023, Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) has made remarkable progress in addressing water challenges and promoting sustainable irrigation practices, engaging 34 competition teams with 98 contestants from 8 states in its inaugural year. This exciting event will reveal the winners of the 2024 TAPS program and unveil the upcoming 2025 competition, expanding the program to include a new site in Garden City.
The event is open to producers, industry professionals, educators, students, and community members. It's a unique opportunity to engage with groundbreaking agricultural research and learn about practical, real-world solutions to today's farming challenges.
Event Details
Date and Location: January 18, 2025, Dodge City, Kansas
Agenda Highlights:
- Recognition of 2024 TAPS winners in four award categories:
- Overall Most Profitable
- Most Profitable at or Below Q-Stable
- Highest Input Use Efficiency
- Greatest Grain Yield
- Reveal of the 2025 Garden City TAPS competition, marking a significant program expansion.
- Networking opportunities for producers and agricultural stakeholders.
Cash awards will be presented to the winners of each category, honoring their exceptional performance in farm management and decision-making during the 2024 competition.
What is TAPS?
The Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program is an innovative real-world farm management competition that combines research and hands-on experience to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. TAPS bridges foundational study and practical application to address the evolving needs of today's farmers and delivers on K-State’s land grant mission to deliver practical research-backed education that contributes to the well-being of. Kansans. Through this program, participants make critical management decisions—such as crop insurance, planting date and population, hybrid selection, irrigation, nitrogen application, and grain marketing—on replicated test plots.
Results are scaled to represent 2,000-acre farms, providing participants with a realistic understanding of their decisions' financial and agronomic outcomes. This structure gives meaningful insights into managing at-scale farming operations, making TAPS a valuable tool for farmers and industry professionals.
Addressing the Challenges of Tomorrow
TAPS plays a pivotal role in addressing one of Kansas agriculture's greatest challenges: the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. TAPS empowers participants to explore innovative solutions and improve input-use efficiency by promoting sustainable water management and holistic decision-making. Kansas State University is dedicated to advancing agricultural profitability and sustainability by bringing together farmers, researchers, and industry leaders through TAPS, fostering collaboration and shared innovation.
"TAPS isn't just about making decisions—it's about seeing the ripple effects of those decisions on farm profitability and sustainability," says Daran Rudnick, Director of Sustainable Irrigation at K-State. "This program opens up a space for producers to experiment with new technologies, network with peers, and take-home lessons that can transform their operations."
Thanks to the collective efforts of faculty and extension specialists from Agronomy, Bio and Ag Engineering, Western Kansas Research-Extension Centers, and KCARE, TAPS has quickly become a catalyst for interdisciplinary research and outreach. Partnerships with over 30 community organizations, including seed companies, technology providers, and government agencies, have been instrumental in advancing TAPS' mission.
Celebrating 2024 Achievements
The 2024 TAPS competition, hosted at the Colby Research and Extension Center, brought together farmers, industry leaders, scientists, and students in a collaborative environment. Participants made critical management decisions, attended field days, exchanged insights during networking and educational sessions, and put the latest technology in precision irrigation management to use. The competition concluded with grain marketing decisions in November 2024, setting the stage for the January banquet to honor their efforts and outcomes.
An Invitation to Join
K-State invites farmers, industry leaders, students, and the community to attend the inaugural TAPS Banquet and learn more about the 2025 Garden City competition. This expansion reflects TAPS' commitment to driving agricultural innovation across Kansas and beyond. By continuing to integrate cutting-edge technologies and collaborative research, Kansas State University ensures that TAPS remains a cornerstone in shaping the future of farming.
For more information or to register for the banquet, please visit https://tinyurl.com/24KSUTAPSAwards or contact Renee Tuttle at rstuttle@ksu.edu or (620) 805-9045.