Research plays a significant role in the long-term vitality of the cattle feeding industry. Whether it is technology advancements, improvements of cattle health and nutrition or environmental management, TCFA understands the importance of continual research.

For many years, the TCFA Research Committee has sorted through research proposals and allocated dollars to support science-based advancements to the industry. In order to further TCFA’s support of research, the committee and TCFA Board of Directors voted to establish the TCFA Distinguished Student Fellowship. The fellowship promotes the involvement of young researchers in the industry while continuing the support of traditional research. Each fellowship recipient receives up to $25,000 to conduct their research.

“The TCFA Research Committee saw the need to bridge the gap between researchers and the industry,” said Max Harrison, Chairman of the TCFA Research Committee. “Establishing a graduate student fellowship produces relevant research and allows the selected master’s or Ph.D. student to make connections within the industry.”

Kasi Schneid, a Ph.D. candidate at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU), was selected as the first fellowship recipient in the spring of 2024. Eight students at universities from across the three-state TCFA region submitted proposals to the committee for review. Upon review, the committee interviewed the top students, ultimately selecting Schneid.

Schneid grew up on a cow-calf operation in eastern Kentucky. She attended Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) as an undergraduate and studied pre-veterinary science. While in school at EKU, her passion for the cattle industry grew, along with her goals and plans for the future.

“I set a goal to work in every single aspect of the cattle industry before I graduated with my bachelor’s degree,” Schneid said. “I worked at the stock yards, volunteered with people who had a backgrounding operation, my family had a cow-calf operation and on a whim, I applied for a feedlot internship in Broken Bow, Nebraska. I spent the summer at Adams Land and Cattle and loved the
management aspect of it. That internship is what drove me away from cow-calf and into the feedlot sector.”

After completing her undergraduate degree, she pursued a master’s at EKU in safety, security and emergency management. Part way through that master’s degree at EKU, Oklahoma State University (OSU) notified her of an opening in their master’s program. With the encouragement of her father, she finished her safety, security and emergency management degree online while also pursuing a master’s in animal science with a research focus in feedlot nutrition at OSU. Upon graduating with her master’s from both EKU and OSU, she began her Ph.D.

At WTAMU, she is pursuing a degree in agricultural systems, working at the research feedlot on a daily basis and conducting research. Schneid’s research looks at both the diet and management effects on acidosis and liver abscesses in finishing feedlot cattle.

“In small pen research, it is really hard to replicate liver abscesses. A lot of people are using different treatments trying to mitigate liver abscesses, but for this research we are trying to induce them,” Schneid said. “We are trying to see if it is something in our production setting that is causing the abscesses.”

Cattle health and wellbeing is a top priority for cattle feeders, putting this project in direct alignment to the goals of the research committee.

“When selecting a student to receive the first fellowship, it was important to ensure their research was going to advance the industry,” Harrison said. “Kasi’s research was partially completed upon selection; however, studying both diet and management effects provides a different approach to liver abscess research, which is something the committee appreciates.”

Since being selected as the fellowship recipient, Schneid has had the opportunity to present to the committee, attend the TCFA Annual Convention and meet numerous individuals from within the industry.

“Being at WT, I have already met so many people in the cattle feeding industry that I would not have met if I did not come here,” Schneid said. “Then, the added bonus of receiving the TCFA fellowship and attending the TCFA convention, the amount of people who approached me and said, “We were in that interview, you did an awesome job,” or “We have a question about this,” has really helped broaden my connections in the industry.”

Schneid is grateful for the opportunity to connect with professionals from across the industry and for the support of TCFA.

“By them selecting me, it gave me the reassurance that I am doing what I am meant to be doing, and that I am on the right path to where I want to end up,” Schneid said.

Upon completion of Schneid’s Ph.D., she plans to combine her safety and animal nutrition knowledge to work as a consulting nutritionist or in extension.

With deep generational roots in Vega and Oldham County, Robby Kirkland finds a sense of pride in carrying on the tradition of cultivating crops, livestock and community in the area.

“Both sets of my grandparents were proud of Vega and Oldham County and the lives they were able to build and the families they built together,” Kirkland said.

While his family has been involved in production agriculture since they moved to Vega, it wasn’t until the 1980s that they began operating a feedyard. Kirkland Feedyard was started by Robby’s parents, Perry and Melanie Kirkland, in 1983.

​What started as the purchase of a small grow yard has expanded over the years, and he has had a front-row seat to the growth of the feedyard.

“I watched my dad grow it from the time I was 12 until I graduated high school,” Kirkland said. “He grew it from 1,000 head to about 5,000 head and when I went to college it was still growing.”

When Kirkland graduated high school, he knew one thing: he wanted to go to Texas Tech University (TTU). While at TTU, he found a sense of belonging to the agriculture industry and to his family’s operation. As he sat in classes with likeminded individuals, he knew it was his desire to carry on the legacy his grandparents began.

“Something that is important to me and has been instilled in me is trying to help build a legacy of what my grandparents and parents started,” Kirkland said.

He returned to the feedyard in 1995 after graduating with a degree in animal science. He wanted to continue the growth of the feedyard alongside his father.

“I saw the opportunity to go back and leave Kirkland Feedyard a little bit better,” Kirkland said. “Going back to make an impact, make it a little better, a little different and have my fingerprint on the feedyard.”

FAMILY BUSINESS
Since the beginning, Kirkland Feedyard has been a family affair. Kirkland’s parents worked side by side for many years, his mom in the office and his dad managing operations.

“It was dad’s vision and passion,” Kirkland said. “But mom was right beside dad supporting him every step of the way. She has been instrumental in the day-to-day operations of the feedyard.”

Today, the tradition of family remains. When you drive through the fences of Kirkland Feedyard, you will find three generations.

From the day Kirkland returned to the feedyard, he and his dad have worked together, and his son Carson returned to the feedyard last year.

“Seeing Carson’s story play out similar to mine, going to Texas Tech and then wanting to come back and be part of the operation is special,” Kirkland said. “I think we are all drawn to be a part of something, for us it is being drawn to be part of the legacy of a family operation.”

The desire to carry on the legacy isn’t the only thing his dad has taught him over the years. His dad serves as his greatest mentor and a wealth of knowledge.

“When there are challenges within the industry whether it is legislative or regulatory, I know Dad gives me a clear, unbiased opinion,” Kirkland said. “I can sit him down and explain what is going on and say, ‘tell me how you view this.’ ”

An additional part of carrying on what his grandparents started includes making decisions with God’s guidance.

“Faith in the Lord has been a part of our family legacy as well,” Kirkland said. “We strive to keep it in the center of what we do and our thought process.”
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BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
The Kirkland Feedyard business model has always been based on taking care of customers and cattle. And while being profitable is important, it is also about making people feel like they’re part of the family.

​“We want to be a family atmosphere,” Kirkland explained. “We started out at a 1,000 head and today we are close to 30,000 head, but we continue to have the same philosophy that we did and that my dad instilled in me. We work hard, we have high expectations, we treat people the way we want to be treated and create a family atmosphere. That is still how I try to manage the feedyard today.”

That philosophy is expected to trickle down into the way feedyard employees complete their job.

“If our team has heard it once, they’ve heard it 100 times, we treat people, cattle, equipment and people’s cattle the way we want to be treated,” he said.

Their people-focused business model allows them to work with a large group to produce a product in which they believe.

“We are out here as a family, feeding our family, our community and our employees,” Kirkland said. “We are trying to produce a safe, healthy product while working with customers to accomplish that.”

At any one time, Kirkland Feedyard has about 70 different customer’s cattle on feed. With that comes opportunities to help each one meet their goals.

“In our situation where we are feeding lots of customer cattle, we are working with customers, ranchers, feeders and producers that are trying to meet a goal, too,” Kirkland explained. “At the end of the day, we are all trying to make a better and profitable product, we can’t do it just to do it, we have to be able to be profitable while doing it. So, our goal becomes multi-targeted from a standpoint of working with customers and providing them what they need. The customer’s wants, desires and needs to be sustainable and profitable carry over to us.”

Kirkland enjoys being able to pivot and try different approaches to help each of their customers successfully produce a beef product to feed consumers across the globe.

“Working with 70 different people on their goals or expectations is a challenge, but I enjoy the competition and try to be the best we can be,” he said.