Over 40 students from six states throughout the Midwest visited the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus on November 21-23 to learn more about the beef industry at the 21st annual Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium (NYBLS).
Since 2004, over 800 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors have participated in the event, with this year’s 45 attendees hailing from Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and North Dakota.
University faculty and industry experts from the Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Beef Council, and Greater Omaha Packing Company spoke to students about all aspects of the industry, including meat processing, beef palatability, flavor, and nutrition, before they broke out into groups to develop a recipe and marketing plan for a beef product.
Galen Erickson, professor of ruminant nutrition, provided attendees with an overview of the beef industry before Jordan Wicks, assistant professor of animal science and Extension meat specialist, conducted a carcass breakdown and value demonstration for attendees. Emeritus professor Chris Calkins and Associate Professor of Animal Science Gary Sullivan followed with sessions discussing beef palatability and flavor before Mitch Rippe from the Nebraska Beef Council discussed the role of beef in a healthy diet.
Dinner preceded a keynote speech by Jill Brown, a UNL alumnus, and Laura Field, the executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen, before the attendees closed out day one with product development time.
Day two began with a session regarding beef marketing by Adam Wegner of the Nebraska Beef Council, and food safety by Kirby Childs, vice president of quality assurance and technical resources from greater Omaha. A talk by professional chef John Kennedy closed the morning before the groups further developed their products. The afternoon featured a campus scavenger hunt, career exploration activities and more work on product marketing plans.
The final day consisted of finalizing and presenting their products to the group and the competition judges for critiques. The winning product was "Paniolo Prairie Pokers," followed by "Sker's Curds" and "Rize-N-Runza."
Eight participants also received $500 CASNR scholarships, including Will Janssen (Syracuse), Natalie Bina (Park River, N.D.), Mason Janda (Ravenna), Ian Schiller (Scribner), Jacob Wollenburg (DeWitt), Kathryn Naber (Seward), Austyn Nun (Geneva) and Ava Stewart (Newcastle).
The NYBLS Planning Committee team comprises Ashley Benes, Alli Raymond, Bryan Reiling, Gary Sullivan, Cal Schultz and Bo Garcia.
