It is responsible for providing services and expertise that promote agriculture and protect Kansas' food supply and natural resources while stimulating economic growth.

The board's early years were spent organizing a state fair and acting as an immigration agency to attract needed settlers to homestead in Kansas.

The Board of Agriculture through an annual report and various publications about Kansas served as a source of information and new techniques in farming.

In 1994, a court found the selection process for choosing a Secretary of Agriculture was unconstitutional [5] and placed the governor of Kansas in charge.

[6] On June 16, 2014, the majority of the department's employees were moved from Topeka to offices in Manhattan, Kansas.

The Board assists the Governor and Secretary in the development of legislative priorities and Departmental rules and regulations, except those which relate solely to personnel matters of the Department.

Prior to the current system for selecting members of the board, farm interest groups would send delegates to a convention held for this purpose.