46 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN November 2024 PEERS CONTINUED ON PAGE 48 Diamond Sponsors: Platinum Sponsor: Gold Sponsors: Silver Sponsors: EVEN FARMERS DESERVE A DAY OFF ONCE IN A WHILE! Get your tickets online at NEBRASKAAGEXPO.COM to save $5! SANDHILLS GLOBAL EVENT CENTER — LINCOLN, NE DECEMBER 10-12, 2024 A LIVING CLASSROOM MIKE BOEHM, PH.D. | VICE PRESIDENT FOR AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, HARLAN VICE CHANCELLOR, INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN In the 1870s, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) acquired the land that now makes up East Campus and began using it as an experimental farm. This was a place where students learned about the latest agricultural practices and technologies through hands-on experience and experimented with new methods of crop and livestock management. Over the decades, the East Campus landscape has changed, with farms and outbuildings giving way to classrooms and state-of-the-art laboratories. Yet the hands-on experience that prepared students 150 years ago remains a critical part of the East Campus experience. In September, students in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) spent a day learning about rangeland management during a grazing demonstration on East Campus just north of Hardin Hall. In 2021, faculty in the School of Natural Resources seeded the area to native grass. The prairie has since matured, and it’s become a living laboratory. CASNR students use the prairie to identify plants and study insects and pollinators. In the spring, a chimney swift tower was installed on the prairie. And in September, faculty fenced off a portion of the prairie and brought in four steers to get an up-close look at grazing. Throughout the day, students and classes were able to visit the prairie and learn about grazing, ruminant nutrition and grassland ecology with faculty, staff and graduate students from animal science, grassland systems, and agronomy and horticulture. This is just one of countless hands-on experiences students have in CASNR. They grow plants under various conditions to see in real time how different variables impact plant growth. They collect and analyze water quality samples. They build and program farm robots. They develop and grow businesses. I could go on and on. These experiences also serve as an entry point to the hands-on opportunities we offer across Nebraska. Undergraduate and graduate students alike have the chance to observe and participate in the research and Extension work taking place at Barta Brothers Ranch, Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory and our research, teaching and Extension centers across the state. For some students, their first interaction with agriculture is through experiences we offer on campus. If their interest is piqued, they might end up in an internship at one of our research centers, observing a prescribed burn at Barta Brothers or working directly with Nebraska producers through the On-Farm Research Network. As we strive to meet the spectrum of workforce needs across our state’s agriculture industry, we’ve found that sometimes the first step is exposing students to aspects of agriculture they haven’t interacted with before. You may have seen the news that enrollment was up at UNL this fall. It was also up in CASNR, and I believe these kinds of opportunities are part of the reason why. Our students want an excellent ag education; they also seek practical, real-world knowledge they can immediately put to use in their internships, on their family farms and ranches and in their eventual careers.
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