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Each generation in a long-time farming family adapts to the challenges and opportunities of their time. Growing up on his family’s operation south of Hays, Wyatt Grabbe watched his father, grandfather and uncle shift from conventional tillage to no-till, experiment with cover crops and biologics and take advantage of the latest varieties and technology. As he prepares to enter his second year at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland, he plans to take what he’s learned in his associate’s degree program in precision agriculture back to the farm – making him a great candidate for the David Radenberg Memorial Scholarship.
“The David Radenberg Memorial Scholarship continues a legacy of dedication to our mission at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center,” said Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin.
“David was passionate about continuous innovations by and for Kansas wheat farmers, and this year’s scholarship recipient certainly fits that mold.”
The David Radenberg Memorial Scholarship funds one $1,000 scholarship to a current undergraduate or graduate student from Kansas who is pursuing a career in the field of agriculture. Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student at any two- or four-year college or university in Kansas.
The scholarship memorializes the legacy of David Radenberg, a lifelong wheat farmer from Claflin, where his family has farmed for more than 100 years. He represented central Kansas on the Kansas Wheat Commission from April 2011 to March 2020, including serving as chairman from August 2018 to May 2019. Radenberg was also a founding board member of the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation.
In 2013, Radenberg also visited multiple Pacific Rim countries to promote U.S. wheat. The contrast between third-world poverty he saw in thriving modern cities left an impression on him and reinforced his support of wheat research to help feed a hungry world.
Grabbe’s family has also embraced the latest wheat research to aid their operation. The family has planted wheat test plots for Bayer CropScience and K-State Research and Extension. His father and uncle have entered the National Wheat Yield Contest, organized by the National Wheat Foundation. In the 2022 contest, his uncle John took second place in Kansas dryland wheat with an entry of WestBred WB4422 that yielded 103.24 bushels per acre, beating out his father Matt, who placed third with an entry of WestBred WB4792 that yielded 97.88 bushels per acre. An entry of the same variety that yielded 79.18 bushels per acre earned his father second prize in Kansas in the 2023 contest.
“These two people have inspired me to come back to the farm after pursuing my associate’s degree in precision agriculture,” Wyatt wrote in his application essay.
In addition to the farming operation, he helps with another family venture called Stone Post Ag, which sells Beck’s Hybrids seed, Win biologics and Opti Lube fuel additive. Grabbe hopes to further add to the family’s business diversification by adding soil sampling, aerial mapping by drone and potential crop scouting – after completing his
degree program at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland.
“I want to be able to help farmers make more efficient and healthier choices when it comes to crops,” he wrote. “I still have a lot to learn, but my strong work ethic and my love for farming and cattle will keep driving me to do better for my family, our operation and, in the future, my customers.”
Learn more about this year’s scholarship winners at kswheat.com.
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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat