Noble Research Institute Partners with Kansas State University and Hy-Plains Feedyard to Preserve Tallgrass Prairie Through Region-Specific Rancher Education

Noble Grazing: Flint Hills Series offers ranchers a path to sustainable and profitable land management practices at a reduced cost

ARDMORE, Okla., April 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Research Institute (Noble), a trusted educational resource for farmers and ranchers since 1945, Kansas State University and Hy-Plains Feedyard have partnered to launch a three-year educational program designed to promote sustainable grazing practices in the Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma.

In this partnership, led by Kansas State University, Noble will develop educational programming and a grazing support tool with regional knowledge and expertise from the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition. Hy-Plains Feedyard will provide research and dedicated educational facilities in the Kansas Flint Hills region. Funding for this project was made possible through a $998,195 grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

In an additional partnership with the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition, scholarships funded by this grant will allow series attendees to participate in the KGLC's annual range academies.

The Noble Grazing: Flint Hills Series will provide ranchers with a tailored, hands-on educational experience that combines grazing management, business strategies and region-specific tools for lasting success.

The series, priced at $585, consists of three targeted courses, with the inaugural participant group beginning this May, including:

• Noble Grazing Essentials (May 20-22, 2025, Council Grove, KS)
  • Using real-life and region-specific examples, including maps of the participant's farm or ranch, this course gives Flint Hills ranchers a framework to view and utilize their soil and forages framed by soil health principles and ecosystem function. Practices they choose based on those principles and their operations will help them prevent overgrazing by understanding how to calculate stocking rates through the grazing season to ensure they make the most of their pastures while protecting them for the future.
    
    
• Business of Grazing (July 22-24, 2025, Council Grove, KS)
  • This course gives participants a method to align day-to-day grazing decisions with their ranch's overall goals. It provides analytic tools for investing to make smart upgrades to fences and water systems with a return on investment. They will also begin creating adaptive grazing plans that respond to changing weather and market trends.
    
    
• Grazing Plan Workshop (September 9, 2025, Council Grove, KS)
  • Participants join an interactive workshop that combines the technical and business components, giving them hands-on support as they explore technology and create value-added grazing plans.

The program aims to address critical challenges in the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie, which represents the largest remaining contiguous expanse of tallgrass prairie in the United States.  

"The Flint Hills region is one of the most important resources the livestock industry has for long-term forage-based beef production," said Josh Gaskamp, associate director of outreach and partnerships for Noble Research Institute. "The Noble Grazing: Flint Hills Series provides formal instruction and hands-on guidance related to the overall conservation and regeneration of grazing resources, which impact the profitability of ranches, ecosystem function and community dynamics." 

The three-part series is limited to 35 participants per year, with cohorts expected to attend all three sessions. The program is specifically designed for the region's new and beginning land managers and Native American tribal communities.

For more information about Noble Research Institute and its educational programs, visit www.noble.org/find-a-course/.

About Noble Research Institute

Noble Research Institute is the nation's largest nonprofit dedicated to farm and ranch management and has been a leading, trusted resource in agriculture since 1945. The organization serves agricultural producers with education, research and consultation on regenerating soil health to improve their land, livestock and livelihood. Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to restoring U.S. grazing lands, Noble actively manages 13,500 acres of working ranchlands to provide real-world insights and applications for farmers and ranchers.  

For more information about Noble Research Institute, visit www.noble.org.

SOURCE Noble Research Institute LLC