‘Prepared to Go Out Into the World’

Chase Glover Plants the Seeds for Future Ag Career at NCTA

By Connie White

Chase Glover didn’t think college was for him. He knew he wanted to work in agriculture, but he wasn’t big on school. So, he figured he would go straight into the workforce after graduating from high school in Grand Island, Nebraska.

His plans changed after his high school Future Farmers of America adviser suggested he check out the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA). He traveled to Curtis, Nebraska, and took a tour. What he saw on campus changed Glover’s mind about college and planted the seeds for his future career.

Support the Student Success and Activity Center at NCTA

“My love for NCTA has just grown so much over the past year and a half,” said Glover, who will graduate in May with an Associate of Science degree in agronomy. “I think it’s great that Nebraska has a school dedicated to straight-up agriculture and animal science.”

This fall, 232 students were enrolled in NCTA, a two-year college that is the rural arm of the University of Nebraska System. NCTA leaders seek to increase enrollment to 500 students over the next 10 years to address workforce needs in Nebraska’s agriculture sector. A key piece of that plan involves modernizing facilities on the historic campus in southwest Nebraska to aid in recruiting and retaining more students.

Omaha philanthropists Barbara and Wally Weitz have made a $6 million challenge gift toward a $12 million project to create the Student Success and Activity Center. The project will renovate and expand the student union, known as The Barn, originally built in 1917, to create a new student union on campus with technology-enabled study spaces, a place to hold social events and an accessible dining hall.

Fundraising is underway for the remaining $6 million, with work to begin after those commitments are in place.

Barbara Weitz has called NCTA a “too-well-kept secret south of North Platte.” The college — with the slogan “Small Campus. Big Impact.” — is ranked by Forbes Magazine as among the top 30 trade schools in the country.

NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D., said Aggie graduates are in high demand. In surveys, 100% of graduates report being employed in their field of study or planning to go back to the family ranching or farming operation or to continue their education at another institution.

Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Nebraska, with nearly one in four jobs in the state related to the industry, and it accounts for more than one-fifth of the gross state product. But without the workforce to fill jobs in all aspects of the industry, the ag economy is at risk.

“Every field of agriculture is looking for NCTA graduates. There are shortages across the board in agronomy, animal science, ag sales, veterinary technology and irrigation technology,” Gossen said. “We have more job openings than we have graduates to fill them.”

At NCTA, Gossen said students receive hands-on, applicable instruction that prepares them to advance in ag industry jobs or to become a partner in their family operation.

“NCTA provides a skilled workforce to rural Nebraska,” he said. “Students enjoy small-town living, and many plan on returning to rural Nebraska to begin their careers.”

Glover said NCTA has opened doors and prepared him for the “real world” of agriculture. In his agronomy major, he engages in the latest plant and soil science while learning about water resource conservation and production techniques. To gain hands-on experience, he scouts crops in the agronomy farm lab on campus, looking for stressors on plants throughout their life cycle, from seeds in the ground to fully grown plants; crunches the numbers on the cost of inputs such as fertilizer; and learns about irrigation.

“I just like looking at the plants,” he said. “I know I sound like a crop nerd.”

Glover also is a member of NCTA’s award-winning crops judging team and president of the Farm Bureau Club. “I love working in small groups and one on one with my professors,” he said.

After he graduates, Glover plans to complete a second internship as a crop scout at Long Agronomics in Minden, Nebraska, where he spent last summer learning about crop diseases and their impact on plants.

“I didn’t really have a background in agronomy before coming to NCTA,” Glover said, “and now I feel like I’m prepared to go out into the world.

Ag grads benefit from Heifer Link program at NCTA

With a final semester of classes in sight, three students at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) in Curtis, Nebraska, received an important graduation incentive.

The students, each from farms and ranches in western Nebraska, applied to the NCTA Heifer Link program and were awarded an animal each from the campus herd earlier this year.

Heifer Link was initiated about a decade ago for students to earn a heifer and begin their own herd or add to their existing cattle enterprise. The philanthropic project is made possible through in-kind gifts of live animals or financial contributions to the NCTA Heifer Link Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Michael Comstock of Harrison, Braden Johnson of Gering, and Ryan Liakos of Bayard were the three successful applicants in 2022. Each was awarded a heifer that had been born on campus in 2021.

“I had started my own operation right after my first year of college,” said Liakos, who was a diversified agricultural management major.

Liakos farms rented ground located between Bayard and Scottsbluff. He added a Red Angus breeding heifer to the family herd. They farm corn, dry edible beans, sugar beets and livestock feed. Liakos was active in campus clubs and had earned an American FFA Degree while in the Bayard FFA Chapter.

Braden Johnson, also an American FFA Degree recipient from the Bayard Chapter, is back at rural Gering, raising cattle and alfalfa with his family. He said they focus on the cow-calf herd, raising alfalfa for their use and outside sales and are considering adding a small feedlot at the farm.

“I appreciated the classes and programs that NCTA offered me and enjoyed the hands-on aspect with the livestock there,” said Johnson, who majored in livestock industry management.

Michael Comstock studied diversified agricultural management and received a certificate in agricultural mechanics. He ranches with his family in northwestern Nebraska in Sioux County, and they also pasture cattle just across the state line near Lusk, Wyoming.

With a goal of assuming management of his grandparents’ operation, Comstock is well versed in cattle production and helps manage their small backgrounding lot for yearlings.

NCTA students in livestock classes have hands-on responsibilities in calving, processing cattle and all facets of production. The livestock and large animal vet technician students also can become certified in cattle artificial insemination through weekend courses at NCTA.

“During calving, we checked on the cows every four hours in a rotation with other students,” Comstock said. His calving partner was Liakos. “I enjoyed the calving and classes, too.”

Participants in Heifer Link complete an extensive application, along with submitting two letters of reference from individuals in the cattle industry. Applicants are evaluated by a review committee headed by Doug Smith, Ph.D., animal science professor and Aggie livestock judging coach.

Helping NCTA

For information about opportunities to support the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, contact Kristen Houska at 402-458-1245 or 800-432-3216.

Part of the University of Nebraska system, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is a two-year institution with a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology and related industries. NCTA is known for its affordable tuition, high job-placement rate for its graduates, and for the success of student teams in competitive activities including crops judging, ranch horse events, livestock judging, shotgun sports, stock dog trials, and intercollegiate rodeo. The college is consistently ranked as one of the best two-year schools in the nation.