With the recent interest and expansion in the ethanol industry in Nebraska, it appears that a boom in Nebraska’s cattle-feeding industry will follow. As the state’s feedlot industry expands, there is going to be strong demand for experienced, well-qualified managers to oversee this growing industry. Where will feedlots turn for good help?

Look no further than Nebraska’s university system. Both UNL and UNK have excellent ag-business programs. In addition, UNL has a fine animal science program that also offers a Feedlot Management Internship program, which I completed.

The Feedlot Management Internship is a great opportunity for students to experience first-hand all of the issues surrounding a feedlot operation. The program is a full summer and fall semester long, with both in-class and actual feedlot experience.

First classroom, then field

The time spent in the classroom is well worth it. It is essentially a crash course on all aspects of a feedlot operation. I was a business major throughout college and had never heard of acidosis until I took this class. On the other hand, my classmates were animal science students, and they were pretty green when it came to futures markets and economics. So the class time provided an opportunity to blend students from different areas of study.

One of the more memorable issues we discussed in class was personnel management. This issue is often overlooked but its application is vital in the feedlot. In class, we discussed personality types and how to work with different people. When I arrived at the feedlot, it was easy to see the vast array of personalities, and I was able to understand a little better how to work most effectively with each of these types.

Once out of the classroom, the internship program gave me the opportunity to work on a feedlot with a Hispanic crew. This was something I wasn’t used to, but may be really helpful in the future. After a week or two, I became quite comfortable. It became obvious that feedlot work is the same no matter who you work with. My high school Spanish classes also began to pay off. I picked up on Spanish numbers quickly, along with other frequently used words.

Tricks of the trade

Another memorable part of the classroom sessions was feeding sheep. Many may wonder how feeding sheep applies to a cattle feedlot operation, but it was a critical part of the learning experience. Feeding sheep made my classmates work together to formulate the feed and feed ration steps. We also had to figure out when to mix the feed and develop a feeding schedule. We fed two pens of three lambs and three individual lambs. At the end of this project, we could see the difference between feeding individuals and feeding a pen, as well as the benefits of distiller’s grain in a ruminant diet. This project provided valuable experience that I was able to carry to the feedlot and use when I had to call feed for the cattle.

One of the more important aspects of this program was being able to see how other people operate a feedlot. I grew up around a feedlot, so I felt I had a pretty good idea of how things operated. But this program opened my eyes to how many different ways a feedlot can be run. I have heard this saying often and feel it is true: All feedlots are different, yet all of them are the same. I learned and saw many different and useful things that I’ve since taken back to our family’s feedlot.

The program’s field experience is also quite beneficial. I saw things done and used in the feedlot that I really didn’t know existed. This experience showed me that computers and databases are very useful tools in cattle feeding. They have the potential to help feedlot employees with a number of tasks, ranging from bunk reading to treating sick cattle.

The value of a good horse

UNL’s feedlot internship program also gave me the chance to ride pens on horseback, which was a new experience for me (I had previously walked or used a four-wheeler). I had no real riding experience and was really sore that entire first week of pen riding. However, I gained a lot of respect for cowboys and what they do. I picked up a lot of it quickly, but there are many horse- and pen-riding skills that I was never able to fine-tune as well as my fellow crewmen.

The pen-riding experience will definitely stay with me for a long time. It allowed me to see firsthand the benefits and disadvantages of riding a horse to check cattle as opposed to using a four-wheeler. I felt the horse worked well (when I got along with it) because it was quiet and nimble. For the most part, the horse was really useful in separating out individual cattle. Still, a four-wheeler does not take much convincing in the morning to saddle up.

Overall, the experience and knowledge gained in the UNL feedlot internship program was valuable and well worth my investment. It gave me a lot of insight that I was able to apply to my job with Nebraska Cattlemen. I feel this is a good program that has a lot to offer many ag-related majors, not just animal-science students. Designed for students who plan to work at a feedlot, the program would be beneficial to many other careers, including nutritionist, veterinarian, market reporter/analyst, feed salesman, pharmaceutical sales rep, packer-buyer and even cow-calf ranching.

There is real opportunity in this internship if Nebraska wants to grow its feedlot sector to accommodate the up-and-coming ethanol industry. College students (undergrad or graduate students) should take advantage of it. To my knowledge, no other school in the nation offers a program similar to this one.

For more information, contact Galen Erickson in the Animal Science Department at UNL’s East Campus. Applications are typically taken in the fall with students selected in the spring for entry into the program that summer.

By Cody Weitzenkamp. Weitzenkamp graduated from UNL and followed up his feedlot internship with six months in the NC office working on BQA and market reporting. He is now working at the family feedyard.