Education and Research Highlighted at Annual Awards Banquet
During the Nebraska Cattlemen Annual Awards Banquet, the Nebraska Cattlemen Research and Education Foundation presented the Nebraska Beef Industry Endowment, the Nebraska Range and Conservation Endowment, and the Friend of the Foundation award to three trailblazers in the beef industry.
Loren Berger, President of the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation stated, โEach year it’s humbling to see the ways donors and partners will come together to invest in the future of Nebraskaโs beef industry.โ He continued, โFrom solving problems in the feedlot sector to utilizing crop residues in cattle production, this yearโs recipients are paving the way forward for our industry. Congratulations to this yearโs recipients.โ
2024 Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation Award Recipients
Nebraska Beef Industry Endowment โ Dr. Jessica Sperber; Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science and Extension Feedlot Specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Nebraska Beef Industry Endowment was established in December 2009 and provides grants to beef industry-related research and/or teaching positions at Nebraska post-secondary educational institutions. This award honors those professors or instructors that are providing cutting edge research and/or student instruction in a beef industry related area.
As the 2024 Nebraska Beef Industry Endowment recipient, Dr. Jessica Sperber was awarded a $6,000 grant on behalf of the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation.
Sperber joined the Department of Animal Science as an extension assistant professor and extension feedlot specialist in November of 2022. Her role in the department includes delivering relevant education and guiding problem-solving efforts targeted towards feedlot owners, management, consultants, and allied industry. She organizes the Nebraska beef feedlot extension team, coordinate feedlot roundtables, and contributes to feedlot extension publications. She is passionate about the relationship between the cattle feeder and packer, and the technologies that improve beef cattle production efficiency.
Nebraska Range and Conservation Endowment โ Dr. Mary Drewnoski; Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Systems Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Nebraska Range & Conservation Endowment was established in December 2011 and provides grants to range management and conservation research and/or teaching positions at Nebraska post-secondary educational institutions. This award honors professors or instructors who are providing cutting edge research and/or student instruction in a range management and conservation related area.
Dr. Mary Drewnoski received this yearโs Nebraska Range and Conservation Endowment and was awarded a $6,000 grant on behalf of the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation.
Drewnoski joined the Department of Animal Science in 2014 and currently serves as an Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Systems Specialist. Her research and extension program focuses on the utilization of crop residues and cover crop forage for backgrounding calves and feeding beef cows. She also serves on an interdisciplinary team evaluating economical systems for integrated crop and livestock production in Nebraska
Friend of the Foundation Award โ Lee Weide
๏ปฟThe Friend of the Foundation award is presented to a person or business that has shared endless amounts of time, talent, and treasure with the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation. The Foundation is pleased to announce the 2024 recipient of the Friend of the Foundation award is Lee Weide.
Weide started with Nebraska Cattlemen in early 1997 with the member-driven Nebraska Corn Fed Beef program, first as database coordinator and then as director. In 2000 Weide became an analyst for the NC Market Reporting Service. Later in the year, Lee started his role as the director of feedlot member services and eventually became vice president of member services.
Beginning in 2000, Weide also took on the important role of managing the Nebraska Cattlemen Beef Pit at the Nebraska State Fair, an exceptionally high-visibility and vital NC function. Weide and his wife, Jennifer, put in countless hours each year, coordinating and organizing the many volunteers who worked the Beef Pit, to help prepare and cook the meat, and working with the State Fair vendors, leadership and staff to ensure that consumers always had an exceptional meal at the State Fair.
In addition to his duties with Nebraska Cattlemen, beginning in 2005 Weide served as staff liaison to the NC Research and Education Foundation. In this role, he worked closely with the staff at Darr Feedlot where the annual NC Foundation Retail Value Steer Challenge (RVSC) is held. Weide maintained the highest level of detailed data management of cattle for members and contributors throughout each RVSC.
In 2006, Weide became vice president of operations for NC, in addition to his role as staff liaison to the Foundation, both positions he held until his retirement last year. Lee was instrumental in the both the capital campaign and the building project that led Nebraska Cattlemen to its new office home in the summer of 2019.
With twenty-eight years of service to Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation, there is no one more deserving of this award than Lee.