Overview
The Northwest Research-Extension Center, located in Colby, Kansas, is a unit of K-State Research and Extension.
Western Kansas Agricultural Research Report
Service Area
The programs and services of the Northwest Research-Extension Center are focused on counties in the northwest and north central portions of Kansas. These include: Barton, Cheyenne, Ellis, Ellsworth, Decatur, Graham, Gove,
Jewel, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Mitchell, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Phillips,
Rawlins, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas,
Trego, and Wallace.
Human Resources
There are 7 faculty located at Colby. Faculty expertise is complemented by 9 full-time support staff including clerical, maintenance, and crop technician classifications. Student workers are hired for the summer field season. To learn more, please visit our faculty and staff page.
Facilities / Land Resources
The research facilities at Colby includes 23 buildings. Both dryland and irrigated land resources are used for field crops research and production of foundation seed wheat or grain, hay, and silage.
Class | Owned | Leased | Total |
Cropland | 505 | 0 | 505 |
Rangeland | 113 | 113 | 113 |
B-R-W <1> | 93 | 0 | 93 |
Acres | 711 | 0 | 711 |
<1> B-R-W=Buildings, Roads, Waterways |
Fiscal Resources
Funding comes from a variety of sources including state appropriations (salaries and wages, operating, supplemental allocations for equipment and maintenance), crop sales (fees), grants, and gifts.
History
The Colby Branch of the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station was established in 1914 with the purchase of 314 acres plus improvements located adjacent to the southwest corner of the City of Colby. Later, the research land base was expanded to 727 acres. In 1987, the station was given its current name, Northwest Research-Extension Center, when the Northwest Area Extension office was moved onto the station.