Nebraska LEAD 36 fellows travel to Kansas City, Washington D.C., Chicago

March 2, 2017

Lincoln, Neb. — Twenty nine Nebraska LEAD 36 fellows recently returned home after participating in a 10-day National Study/Travel Seminar conducted by the Nebraska LEAD Program, Feb. 8-17, 2017. Terry Hejny, Director of the Nebraska LEAD Program served as group leader for the study/travel seminar to Kansas City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

During the seminar, Nebraska LEAD Fellows met with political, business and government leaders. Highlights included visits to the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, Environmental Protection Agency offices in Kansas City and Chicago, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Embassy of Argentina, the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. LEAD Fellows also received briefings from representatives of the National Corn Growers Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American Bankers Association, the National Pork Producers Council, the National Wheat Growers Association, the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. Also included in this years’ experience were briefings and factory tours of the John Deere operations in Moline, IL.

A major objective of the study/travel seminar is to provide participants with the opportunity to meet leaders who help shape local, state, and national policy in agriculture and related areas and to create first-hand exposure to varied social and economic conditions/issues that exist in the United States. The mission of the Nebraska LEAD program is “to prepare and motivate men and women in agriculture for more effective leadership” and is designed to speed up the leadership process.

Nebraska LEAD 36 Fellows by hometown are:

Arthur: Ty Walker

Broken Bow: Nate Bell

Craig: Johnathan Hladik

Deshler: Ellen Schmidt

Fairfield: Thomas Kluver

Fremont: Andy Langemeier

Gibbon: Shane Bendfeldt, Kimberly Wilkens

Gothenburg: Shane Terrell

Gretna: Kelsey Vala

Hay Springs: Joseph Dorshorst

Holdrege: Chris McQuillan

Johnson Lake: David Rowe

Kearney: Dustin Knuth, Hannah Riddle, Ryan Stien

Kennard: Jennifer Arp

Lexington: Adam Smith

Lincoln: Ben Blomendahl, Nate Blum, Nora Turner

Loomis: Justin Trompke

Martell: Alex McKiernan

North Platte: Kyle Shepherd

Omaha: Dustin Smith

Stapleton: Robert Hecox

Sutherland: Shelly Kelly

Trumbull: Scott Bieck

Waverly: Lori Paulsen

The Nebraska LEAD Program includes men and women, currently active in production agriculture and agribusiness. The Nebraska LEAD Program is a two-year leadership development program under the direction of the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council and in cooperation with the University of Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  Program content, essential to leadership focuses on economics, government, human relations, communications, international trade, sociology, education, the arts, social-cultural understandings as well as agriculture.

For more information, or to request an application for Nebraska LEAD 37, contact the Nebraska LEAD Program, 104 Ag Com Bldg, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0940 or 402-472-6810.  For more information about the selection process or to request an application, visit www.lead.unl.edu   The application deadline is June 15, 2017.