36 Nebraska Cattleman September 2023 IANR By Mike Boehm, Ph.D. Vice President for Agriculture, University of Nebraska, Harlan Vice Chancellor, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln New Faces and New Educational Opportunities Greetings! After a very busy summer, school is back in session. As you are likely aware, there have been some changes since our last academic year – most notably that University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Chancellor Ronnie Green retired after serving in leadership roles throughout the university for more than a decade. In July, we welcomed Chancellor Rodney Bennett to campus. Chancellor Bennett comes to us from the University of Southern Mississippi. As I write this, he is getting ready to set off on our annual Roads Scholars tour in which we take new Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) faculty to visit Nebraska communities and IANR research sites across the state. While he doesn’t have an agricultural background, he absolutely understands its importance in Nebraska and is eager to learn more. I believe he is the right leader at the right time, and that he has a bold vision for our university. In June, we were honored to host Nebraska’s entire congressional delegation on the UNL East Campus. The visit was one of several the delegation planned with farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commodity boards and other Nebraska ag groups as Congress drafts the next Farm Bill. The United States has long been a leader in agriculture, and that’s in no small part because of our nation’s strong history of supporting ag research. But the U.S. is currently outspent by China and the European Union, and India and Brazil are closing in. During the delegation’s visit to East Campus, IANR students, alumni, faculty and staff spoke about the importance of investing in ag research, which in turn fuels ag innovation. UNL’s discussion with the delegation began at the UNL Animal Science Complex over a lunch of brisket prepared by UNL meat science students. Meat Science Associate Professor Gary Sullivan explained that the meal the guests enjoyed started with animals that were raised on campus and then harvested, evaluated and processed by students. This kind of hands-on work is critical in preparing our students to enter the workforce, and much of it takes place in the Loeffel Meat Laboratory, our on-campus processing plant, which, frankly, our program has outgrown. Investments in facilities like the Loeffel Meat Lab, whether through the Farm Bill or other avenues, will help our students and the companies they eventually work for stay on the cutting edge of their industries. Across IANR, we are focused on connecting learners at all stages of life with opportunities to advance their interests, skills and careers. The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) recently received support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help develop a particularly critical component of the Nebraska workforce – our meat processing industry. This summer, NCTA received nearly $650,000 to develop a targeted curriculum to train potential and current employees of the meat processing industry. NCTA will work with both the UNL Animal Science Department and industry partners to develop the curriculum. Training will take place at NCTA’s meat laboratory as well as at the Loeffel Meat Lab. In addition to providing training, the program will educate current and potential meat processing industry employees about the breadth of careers across the meat processing sector and help them identify potential pathways to grow in their careers. The goal is two-fold, according to NCTA Dean Larry Gossen. He hopes the program helps train and develop workers new to the meat processing industry while improving current worker retention, satisfaction and safety. I’ll share more about this program once it is up and running. I’d also like to introduce a new face at UNL. Maria Tibbetts recently joined IANR as the editor of the BeefWatch newsletter and other beef-related publications. Tibbetts grew up on a cow-calf operation near Crawford and has a long history in beef communications and livestock media. She has ideas for expanding BeefWatch and sharing more information across more platforms. Let her know what you would like to see at mtibbetts2@unl.edu. One final update this month. We’ve made excellent progress on the Feedlot Innovation Center this spring and summer and, weather permitting, will have cattle in pens before the end of the year. This project wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Nebraska beef industry. I’m grateful for your support, and I look forward to partnering with Nebraska producers to use this new facility to improve Nebraska beef production. Questions? Comments? Ideas? I’d love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at mboehm3@ unl.edu. NC Across IANR, we are focused on connecting learners at all stages of life with opportunities to advance their interests, skills and careers.
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