44 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN April/May 2025 Nebraska Ag Lender Joins Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame The Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame (CFHOF) recognized Tom Jensen of Omaha as the 2025 Industry Leadership Award recipient at its banquet held during the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio in February. Growing up in the Industry Jensen was baptized in the dust of the Omaha Stockyards at a young age. Following his father around the yards, Jensen learned to sort, yard and weigh cattle. On weekends, they would travel to different feedyards and ranches. Throughout those long days and nights, Jensen was learning more than just the ins and outs of the cattle industry. “From the time I could walk, my dad drilled into me that the only thing in life that you have are your name and reputation, and you had to do your best to preserve those,” Jensen says. “That carried over into my banking career in a lot of ways. If I gave you my word that weʼre going to get this loan increased, I would do whatever it took to make it happen, come hell or high water. A lot of what I learned in the yards was mostly about business integrity and not being afraid to work hard.” Stepping Into Ag Lending Jensen attended the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he got a degree in business administration. Never afraid of work, Jensen worked as a bank teller and night manager throughout college, and his last semester he took a job as an ag lender at the Livestock Exchange Building in Omaha. “Taking the job at the Livestock Exchange Building felt like going home to the stockyards,” Jensen says. TRESSA LAWRENCE | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tom Jensen with his wife, MaryRuth, and their three daughters at the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame Banquet held in conjunction with the Cattle Industry Convention in February. Pictured from left to right are Jaclyn Poler, Jenny Dunn, Tom and MaryRuth Jensen and Julie Nielsen. PEOPLE
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