Kansas Ag Innovators are Improving Farming Tools and Tech
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It takes creativity, time, persistence and determination to turn an idea into a reality. Kansas is home to ag innovators who saw needs in agriculture and created businesses and inventions to make farmers’ lives easier nationwide.
Ag’s Digital Marketplace
Ag innovator, Trevor McKeeman drew inspiration for his business, HitchPin, from his experiences growing up on a farm near Abilene, Kansas. His dad had sold hay to another farmer, then waited months for payment. McKeeman thought there had to be a better way to do business.
“HitchPin connects farmers to the products and services they need. It also provides a new marketplace for producers who want to reach more customers,” McKeeman says. “I kept thinking, ‘What does our farm need? How do we find new markets and afford the equipment?’ We built the marketplace knowing that many farms are facing similar challenges.”
Farmers can purchase or sell services, such as baling, harvesting, planting, trucking, animal health and more. They can also create free listings for livestock, grain, equipment, hay and more on HitchPin. Each transaction is secured through the platform, protecting both buyer and seller.
“Our team is proud to build tools that help producers. With 2.2 billion more people expected by 2050, we will need technology like this to help feed the world,” McKeeman says. “I love the stories from farmers about how HitchPin has helped their business. Marketplaces are changing every industry, and there are huge positive opportunities for food production.”
See more: Kansas Livestock Challenge Helps Develop Next Generation of Ag Leaders
Precision Irrigation
If you ask Monty Teeter what his passion in life is, his answer is simple: to make every drop of water count. The ag innovator, developer and CEO of Dragon-Line from Ulysses, Kansas, started in the irrigation industry in 1971 at 19 years old. After almost four decades in his own business, Teeter noticed a continuing serious water problem that needed fixing.
“In our area, we pump water from the Ogallala Aquifer. Every year, the aquifer becomes more depleted,” Teeter says. “We have to be better stewards of our natural resources.”
Teeter designed a mobile drip irrigation system that combines the mechanics of a pivot system with drip technology. Instead of nozzles mounted along the pivot, a manifold comprising specially designed drip tubing drags behind the frame, delivering water directly to the soil and not on the plant or in the wind. This system saves 20% to 50% of water being used by reducing evaporation, soil sealing and runoff.
“Our population is continuing to grow,” Teeter says. “We need to think about how to produce more food with less than half the water. Dragon-Line systems can be part of that solution.”
See more:7 Unique Kansas Food Festivals
Efficient and Easier
Rawhide Portable Corral Inc. of Abilene, Kansas, was created out of necessity. CEO and inventor John McDonald was working livestock in isolated pastures with portable panels when inspiration hit him.
“My initial objective was to be able to set something up that was not labor intensive to catch the animals I needed,” McDonald says.
McDonald’s hydraulic, portable corral system requires minimal labor and can be set up in only 10 minutes. Perhaps the best part is it requires no heavy lifting.
“Ranchers love the versatility of the systems,” McDonald says. “The fact you can use it to simply catch, then load up and take off is great, but you can also work cattle in the system right there, too.”
For McDonald, the most rewarding part is hearing from his customers.
“We’ll continue to meet new customer demand and work with them all across the country,” he says.
See more: Kansas Conservation Districts Help Protect Natural Resources
