34 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN June/July 2024 PEERS AN EXCITING SPRING MIKE BOEHM, PH.D. | VICE PRESIDENT FOR AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, HARLAN VICE CHANCELLOR, INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN Spring is always a time of excitement, renewal and rebirth, but this year has held a bit more excitement than usual. On May 6, we celebrated the groundbreaking of the first phase of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture on Nebraska Innovation Campus. This facility will supercharge USDA and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) research related to precision tools, data management, climate-smart management practices and more, and the official groundbreaking culminated years of planning, discussions with state and federal leaders and tireless support from the Nebraska congressional delegation, most notably Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Mike Flood. As I write this, we are getting ready to host the ribbon cutting for the Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center on June 27. We are also planning our annual field days at research facilities across the state, including at Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory on Aug. 21. In April, the University of Nebraska officially named Dr. Jeff Gold as its next president. Dr. Gold is a first-generation college student and world-class surgeon who has served as chancellor of both the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is dedicated to Nebraska and its people, and he understands how important agriculture is to our state. We also welcomed Kurtis Harms as director of the Nebraska LEAD Program. Harms may be a familiar name to some of you – he was the longtime executive producer of the Market Journal television program before holding communications positions with the Nebraska Corn Board and Pillen Family Farms. I am excited to see where he will take this important program, and I’m grateful to Terry Hejny for his 17 years as Nebraska LEAD’s executive director. As I write this, we are about to celebrate May commencement. After this milestone, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) graduates will embark on careers in agriculture across Nebraska, the United States and the world. Hundreds of students for whom graduation is a bit further away are settling into internships. When they return to CASNR in the fall, they’ll find new opportunities await them and their younger peers. In February, Gov. Jim Pillen announced a new opportunity for Nebraska students interested in pursuing careers as food animal veterinarians. The Nebraska Elite 11 Veterinarian Program, https://casnr.unl.edu/elite11, provides financial support to Nebraska students pursuing degrees in animal science or veterinary science at UNL’s CASNR who wish to remain in Nebraska and serve agricultural communities as veterinarians. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of attracting passionate, talented veterinarians to Nebraska’s rural communities. Our state’s livestock industry contributes more than $6 billion annually to the state’s economies and veterinarians play a vital role in ensuring this industry remains vibrant and growing. However, Nebraska and other states across the country are facing a steep shortage of food animal veterinarians and veterinary technicians. One reason for this is the cost of veterinary training, according to the USDA. The Elite 11 Program removes the barrier of cost for Nebraska students interested in food animal veterinary medicine. High school seniors were able to apply for the program from March 1 through April 19 and their response has underscored that young Nebraskans are hungry for opportunities like this one. We had a wonderful response from across the state, and as I write this, our scholarship selection committee is reviewing the applications. Up to 20 first-time freshmen beginning college in the fall will receive the Nebraska Aspiring Animal Production Veterinarians Program Scholarship, which will cover 50 percent of their tuition for the first two years of their study at CASNR. After the second year, up to 13 of the original 25 scholarship recipients will be awarded a continuation scholarship, which covers 100 percent of tuition for their third and fourth years of study. Ultimately, 11 students will be selected to receive 100 percent of tuition and fees for UNL’s professional program in veterinary medicine, in which students complete the first two years of veterinary school at Nebraska, followed by two more years of schooling at the Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine. Students selected into the program will also receive mentoring and professional development throughout their studies.
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