Six Elite K-State Students Awarded Henry Gardiner Scholarships for 2022-2023

My experiences in the beef industry provided me with an understanding of the economic and financial importance within the industry. This played a large role in my decision to attend K-State and pursue a degree in agri-business.

—Sage Dierks

Since 2012, the Henry C. Gardiner scholarship application process creates an environment for qualified students to compete for elite undergraduate scholarships. Thirty-three students applied for the 2022-2023 scholarships and represented the largest group of applicants to date. Academic standing, community service, work ethic and future goals are taken into consideration. A panel of K-State faculty and industry leaders review the applications. Finalists are selected and compete in a rigorous interview process. The students are academically elite agriculture undergraduates enrolled at K-State and plan to continue careers in agriculture.

When asked to comment on the level of excellence of the applicants, Mark Gardiner said, “Dad was passionate about education, critical thinking and lifelong curiosity.” During the interview process, one student asked Mark to characterize Henry in two words, and those words were curiosity and caring. “Henry was adamant that students should have the opportunities to succeed. The six recipients of the Henry C. Gardiner scholarships are models for the level of excellence Dad would have appreciated.” In closing for the evening, Mark reminded the students that in the future, they, too, are expected pay it forward.

Henry C. Gardiner Scholarships for the 2022-2023 school year have been awarded to twin brothers, Sage and Lukas Dierks, Douglass, Kansas; Joshua Waller, Hoehne, Colorado; Chesney Effling, Highmore, South Dakota; Grace Knepp, Lincolnville, Kansas; and Riley Krehbiel, Kingman, Kansas.

Sage Dierks will complete his undergraduate with honors. His hands on experience working with his family in one of the largest commercial cow-calf operations in Kansas is priceless. Sage’s early experiences, his focus on ag economics and risk management equip Sage with a firm foundation for success.

Twin brother, Lukas Dierks, plans to return to his family’s operation. Lukas is focused on applying his education and experience to improving heifer development and reproduction protocols.

Joshua Waller has owned cattle since he was 11 years old and enrolled in artificial insemination school at 16. After completing his undergraduate degree, Joshua plans to continue his education in vet school. His long term plans are to join a large animal practice and continue improving his own cow herd.

Chesney Effling found a passion for meat science at K-State through her participation on the meats judging team She plans to pursue graduate degrees and return to academia or a career that keeps her involved in research and meat science.

Grace Knepp has gained valuable experience in ag communications and journalism through internships at major livestock shows and national marketing firms. Grace plans to pursue a graduate degree while beginning a career in journalism and photography.

Riley Krehbiel, couples his K-State education with real world experience at home on his family’s registered and commercial cow-calf operation. His prior feedyard internships, judging team experience and education are preparing Riley to pursue a career as a buyer for a major packer and feedlot management.

The Henry C. Gardiner Scholarship is made possible through the generous contributions of Gardiner customers, friends and family continuing the legacy of Henry Gardiner. To date, 42 undergraduate students have received $195,500 in scholarships.

Students classified as a rising-junior, junior or senior, either enrolled in or planning to enroll at Kansas State University with a major in Animal Science and Industry or closely related field may apply. Scholarships are awarded annually to students meeting rigorous criteria and exhibiting a commitment to focus on improving the beef industry and food animal production.

Henry Gardiner started artificially inseminating cows in 1951. He continued to work for the next 13 years to improve his A.I. skills. In 1964 he made the decision to become a total A.I. herd without the use of cleanup bulls. Gardiner Angus Ranch has been total A.I. since he made this management choice. Fast forward 58 years and look at where beef cattle genetics are today.

As a student of Henry, I am a verified cattle nerd who started sorting on a “Big Chief” tablet when databases became available in the fall of 1980. The pursuit of beef cattle breed improvement has always fascinated me. My mentors, Dad, Roy Wallace, and John Crouch helped me understand and strive for multi-trait excellence. As long as you keep birth weight and mature size in a proper balance, you are then able to select for as much early growth as possible, provided this growth comes in the right package of stature, end product excellence, and maternal function. Sounds simple. Yes, it is, but it requires discipline, research, and the mental toughness to block out the “noise” and a thirst for “what genetics work in the most profitable environment, and meets the consumer’s expectations.

Our program has been modeled after the dairy industry’s selection scheme for decades. The original dairy model called for the use of highly proven sires for the traits of merit. In the dairy industry the traits of merit are essentially milk production. When we move this breeding strategy to the beef industry, we have to consider more traits, and more variable environments. Today, with DNA marker assisted genetic predictions, we are able to accelerate the use of elite sires at a younger age. Again, the challenge for using this blueprint for beef producers is that we have more traits to consider. I have always believed with the implementation of genomic selection we could use these elite, identified, younger sires sooner, but we could not “bear down” and use them on a widespread basis until they were validated for all of the above-mentioned traits. The reason we had so much confidence in GAR Home Town was due to his unique genetic predictions making him a trait leader for all of our stated goals.

This has been our focus since Henry Gardiner A.I.’d his first cow in 1951. I used to tease Dad that we should name a bull GAR Nirvana. He rightfully stated, “We will never be able to breed the ideal beef animal.” I agreed, and always replied, “Yes, but we will try!”

GAR Home Town is our best effort to date in the pursuit of the above stated goals. His elite genetic predictions for calving ease, growth, stature, end product excellence, and maternal function are all in the most unique package we have ever seen. The wide acceptance of Home Town sons and daughters across the country are exciting. The carcass data on the Home Town steers is further confirmation he is truly a generational Angus sire.