If you ever want to know how the ag economy in Nebraska is doing, just check out the main street communities in Cuming County.
“I like to say that Cuming County is its own ag economy,” said Ronnie Green, the University of Nebraska chancellor.
The county easily surpasses $1 billion in agriculture sales annually and is the top ag producing county in Nebraska. It also usually ranks among the leading beef producing counties in the nation.
Green will be the featured speaker Monday at an Ag Appreciation banquet in West Point, which is the county seat for Cuming County.
Green is familiar with agriculture. The Virginia native was raised on a mixed beef, dairy and crop farm.
He was appointed as the Harlan vice chancellor of the UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of Nebraska system in 2010. Eventually he was appointed chancellor at UNL, assuming the role in 2016.
“When you say that as the ag economy goes, it is absolutely right that is how it goes in Cuming County and how it goes in the state of Nebraska and beyond,” Green said.
His topics will include the role that Nebraska has in agriculture and beyond, the innovations that are coming in agriculture, along with the university and the exciting things that are happening now.
UNL has long been one of the leaders in all areas of agriculture and natural resources and continues to be.
“Today at UNL, we have continued to see growth in enrollment in agriculture sciences and natural resources. It has been one of our strongest programs for a long, long time,” Green said. “And on East Campus, we continue to have very strong enrollment in all the areas of agriculture and natural resources.”
From a research perspective, agriculture and natural resources continue to lead the university, Green said, both in expenditures and impact.
“We’re recognized as one of the very top programs in the world,” Green said.
UNL also has a broad effort in entrepreneurship across the university. That ranges from the Center for Entreprenuership in the College of Business Administration to the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program.
The Engler program began 11 years ago from a large philanthropic gift from Paul Engler, who is a native of Bassett and UNL alumnus. He became the world’s largest cattle feeder.
“He actually started his career in Cuming County,” Green said. “That’s probably something I will talk about.”
Engler went on to develop Cactus Feeders in the panhandle of Texas. At one time it was the largest cattle feeding operation in the world and still ranks as one of the leaders.
Engler donated $20 million to the university in 2010, which set up the agribusiness entrepreneurship program named after him. It has helped to develop and create new businesses in Nebraska.
There are now 344 alumni of the program, 70 new businesses that have started and $147 million in revenue generated by the new businesses, including many started in Northeast Nebraska and West Point.
“Some of the very top students in the university are in the Engler program,” Green said. “It currently has about 150 students in it.”
Green said it is difficult to describe what quality students that program has attracted and educated.
“They are doing it,” he said. “They are creating new businesses. They aren’t all specifically agriculture or at least what you would consider classical agriculture, but the majority of them are.”
Green said the Engler program is the envy of universities across the country, including the financial support it has.
Green said he feels fortunate that Nebraska cattle feeders have many people who have given back, including the late Ron Krutsinger and his wife, Carol. Ron died in 2020, and Carol, who lives in Norfolk, decided to honor his legacy by helping to ensure the future of Nebraska’s beef industry.
Green said it was another major gift and would benefit the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.
A large portion of the scholarship will go to an endowment to support the Nebraska Beef Industry Scholars Program at UNL, he said.
