74 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN March 2024 Looking for EASY-KEEPING COWS? Wine Glass Easy Keepers • Are Low-Input Foraging Experts • Graze 365 Days of the Year Watch videos and learn more about our easy keepers here! www.WineGlassRanchInc.com info@WineGlassRanchInc.com Imperial, Neb 300 Head for Sale • Wednesday, April 10, 2024 Ogallala Livestock Auction, Ogallala, Neb. (308) 882-5555 1/3 Rectangle Nebraska Cattleman Wine Glass Ranch Feb. 2024 PEERS A YEAR OF PROGRESS MIKE BOEHM, PH.D. | VICE PRESIDENT FOR AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, HARLAN VICE CHANCELLOR, INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN During 2023, the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) celebrated its 50th anniversary. This was an opportunity to look back at the impact of our research, teaching and Extension over the past 50 years, as well at the forces that helped shape our institute. Chief among those forces were strong relationships with producers, processors and others in the agriculture industry from across Nebraska. Those relationships remain strong today and are central to our research, teaching and Extension efforts. They’re one of the things that make Nebraska unique, and I’m grateful to work alongside so many Nebraskans who are passionate about their industry and their university. If 2023 was a year of reflection, 2024 is shaping up to be a year of progress, momentum and looking to the future. Construction on the new Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center, the only university-run commercial-scale, state-of-the-art feedlot in the country, will be complete this spring. Later in the year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will break ground on the USDA Agriculture Research Service National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture on Innovation Campus. We also began the year with a major collaborative project that will help us better understand the interrelated nature of a cow’s genetics, microbiome and diet, and how those factors influence methane emissions. Specifically, researchers from the UNL Departments of Animal Science and Biological Systems Engineering, along with scientists from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, are looking at the role genetics and gut microbiome play in methane production, as well as in energy use and feed use. Ultimately, they are hoping to develop a blueprint for establishing a healthy microbiome in young animals that supports normal growth and production while reducing the amount of methane an individual animal produces. This research was recently funded with a $5 million grant from USDA. This project is important for many reasons, including the message that it sends to consumers. During the Global Climate Summit late last year, world leaders recommended reducing worldwide meat consumption to help mitigate animal agriculture’s environmental impacts. Here in the Beef State, we know that animal agriculture can and must remain strong well into the future to meet growing worldwide demand for nutritious, high-quality protein. We also know that the sustainability of animal agriculture has increased by leaps and bounds over the past 60 years. This is something we have been modest about, and the time has come to stop being modest. Here at the University of Nebraska, we are proud to be part of the most efficient livestock production system in the world. The United States has about 9 percent of global cattle numbers yet produces approximately 22 percent of the world’s beef supply. Compared to the 1970s, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 76
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