TCFA Distinguished Student Fellow: Kasi Schneid

By Lindsey Sawin

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.

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