Terry Klopfenstein, professor emeritus, University of Nebraska, says this program has evolved over several decades.
“I started teaching in the late 1960s. Almost all our students at that time came from farms and ranches. Most farms had cattle, and a lot of them fed a few cattle. Just about every farm kid had some livestock experience. That started changing as farming operations became more specialized,” he says.
“As feedlots grew in size and complexity (and there were fewer farmer-feeders), students no longer had any feedlot experience. I started working with students on summer internships, placing them in feedlots during summer break,” says Klopfenstein.
That program lasted about 15 years. “By the mid-1980s, the feedlot industry became more complex. It wasn’t enough training for students to be in the feedlot just during the summer if they wanted to become feedlot managers.
Most of the cattle were coming in during the fall, and feedlots didn’t need an intern during the summer. We started our current program in 1988, with two objectives. One was for students to be out there longer so they’d have a more well-rounded experience. Second was to put some class work with it,” he says.
“Our classes are mainly discussions rather than lectures. We do six weeks of class about three hours a day, discussing cattle feeding, nutrition, animal health, economics, etc., and I teach personnel management. We tend to think all the problems are cattle problems, but many of the challenges/opportunities are with people rather than the cattle,” says Klopfenstein.
Feedyard classrooms
The students do their internships in a feedlot from early July until Thanksgiving. “That enables them to learn how things work. By late August, corn silage harvest starts, other harvests are starting, yearling cattle are coming off grass and calves start coming in during October. Fall is the busiest time for a feedlot, so that’s when we have our students out there. They get to experience July heat and November snowstorms. They get to see calves that have just been weaned and shipped, giving the greatest health problems.”
Then the students are back in class for two weeks to talk about their experiences. They learn from each other and share new ideas. “When they are out in their internship, they have a list of things they know we are going to discuss when they come back.
They know they need to keep track of diets the cattle were fed. They need some information about closeouts so they know what was happening economically; they need to know what drugs were used in processing the cattle, etc. When they come back, they have to present this. Whenever we have to discuss or present something, we learn it a lot better.”
At that point, they have completed their bachelor’s degrees, ready to go to work. They may go work for the feedlot where they did their internship. Some go into another feedlot, or work for a related industry, and some go into graduate school.
“This is great training for graduate students. Many will be involved in consulting, and if they have actually worked in a feedlot, it gives them more background and credibility,” says Klopfenstein.
“Our students come from a variety of backgrounds. This year’s class is half female. We get some with minimal large animal experience. They may have the aptitude but have to catch up with the rest of the class in experience, so we give them opportunities to learn. Some have never driven a feed truck. Most of them have ridden a horse, so they can adapt to riding pens, but they may not have much experience mechanically or with payloads,” says Klopfenstein.
“If they haven’t driven a feed truck, they ride with our feeders for a while at the university feedlot and then drive the feed truck. Then they are less apt to make mistakes their first time out on a job,” he says.
“We occasionally have a male student that has never been on a horse. We have some horses on campus and people who work with those students and give them some background. When our students go to feedlots, they find that some check pens with horses and some do it on foot. Our job is to try to get students prepared to handle whatever they encounter,” he says.
Opportunity knocks
There is potential for young people to become involved in cattle management as the feeding industry evolves. Thousands of acres of pastureland have been lost to corn production.
Summer grazing is hard to find, and a tremendous amount of corn residue is going to waste that could be used as cattle feed. If we can make use of material that generally has to be tilled so next year’s crop can grow through it, it not only helps the farmer but adds another source of forage for cattle.
“There is a great opportunity for young people to be involved in moving cattle from ranchland to cropland for winter grazing. They wouldn’t have to own cattle or land, but simply manage it,” says Klopfenstein.
“There are opportunities for cattle to be in the feedlot in summer and grazing cornstalks in winter. Young people could be involved in this, working on their own or as an employee of the feedlot – taking care of the cattle when they are in either location.”
Young people could be the flexible managers to help make this happen – doing something that neither the farmer nor the feedlot manager or rancher is able or willing to do. This would be a way for ranchers to cheaply feed cattle through winter.
“We can’t move the cornfields to the ranching areas. We have to move the cattle to the cornfields. Once you move the cattle, and the rancher is not there to take care of them, he needs a dependable person,” says Klopfenstein.
This would entail taking care of fencing (temporary electric fencing) and figuring out water sources. “There is tremendous interest in confining cows during summer when grass is scarce. A person could supply harvested feed during that time and keep them on cornstalks through fall/winter. We’d like to help facilitate this,” says Klopfenstein.
“This could help farmers two ways – with additional income of $15 to $20 per acre from grazing and the benefit of what the cattle do for the field. If the farmer doesn’t have to do tillage, this could save even more per acre than the grazing income.”
Cattle are better for the land. “Disking leads to erosion and soil loss. Cattle can do a better job while adding fertilizer/manure. Studies show improvement in subsequent crop yield by grazing the cornstalks,” says Klopfenstein.
Heather Thomas is a freelance writer based in Idaho.
PHOTOS
Photos courtesy of Terry Klopfenstein.
Former intern takes on new interns
Mark Blackford, former student intern, now runs a 9,000-head feedyard in Craig, Nebraska and has a new intern every year. “The thing I really appreciate about the intern program is that it covers all facets of our feeding industry, not just ruminant nutrition,” he says.
“The students spend class sessions on each subject, including personnel management. In our industry this is critical because no one has developed a way to completely automate and remove the labor factor from raising/growing cattle like has been done with chickens and hogs,” says Blackford.
“Cattle will always need cattlemen; there is no other way to grow them optimally. To develop and manage the necessary labor force, you must to be able to deal with people and help them be more productive. In turn, that will make your operation more productive. I learned a lot about how to communicate and work with other people – whether they are above me or below me in the management system,” Blackford says.
“I’ve had some wonderful interns who stay here with us and work and then go off to their new jobs and become productive members of our industry.” He enjoys helping students who are going through this program like he did earlier.
His new interns spend at least two or three weeks doing every job in every aspect of the feedyard. “If they are going to manage people someday, they need to know how to do their job.
You can’t learn this from a book or video. You need to have been out there and done it, or you won’t be able to help an employee do a better job,” says Blackford.
The intern spends several weeks in a feed truck and several weeks riding pens. “Those are their two main jobs because that’s what we do here every day of the year, whether it’s Christmas or your mother’s birthday. Then there are all the other jobs which include general yard maintenance, servicing equipment, harvesting corn, storing feed, etc.
Then they spend time in the office and do my office manager’s job for at least a week. They enter all accounts receivable and accounts payable, daily feed, bill customers for feed, do a closeout, etc. The intern gets exposure to all areas of what it takes to run a feedyard,” says Blackford.
“The employees who work here full-time enjoy having that young person come in – someone who is curious and excited about our industry. The University of Nebraska does a good job of selecting interns; we always end up with a really decent young person with a lot of potential,” he says.
