2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Pride Agriculture
Looking forward to family time After 40 years at HPAL, Nightingale ready to spend time with loved ones page 5
A STAR-HERALD PUBLICATION
WWW.STARHERALD.COM
The voice of the livestock news
Among the first of inductees
Life in the saddle
A labor of love for one rancher
Orton rides herd on market news office for 30 years
Hageman entered posthumously into Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame
Lifestyle leads Wyoming man to help start up cowboy hall of fame
Cattle rancher takes the modern route to help promote sustainable agriculture
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Charlie Fenster changes farming in western Nebraska By SANDRA HANSEN Ag Editor
It is impossible to tell Charlie Fenster’s story in one sitting. Born a child of the prairies in 1919 near Chappell, his life’s work drew him back to his home soil af ter graduating f rom the Universit y of Nebras ka in 1942 w ith a bachelor ’s degree in vocational agriculture. He ma r r ied Eu nice, t aught vo Charlie cat iona l ag for a Fenster number of years at S t a nt on , a nd w a s working on his master’s degree when the newly created Soil Conser vation Ser v ice “conned” him into going to work for them. The winning point was that SCS didn’t require an advanced degree. After training at Stanton, he was sent to Pierce to open a district. The focus of his work there was stubble mulch and its impact on soil erosion, from both wind and water. The rest is history. Fenster was in the thick of things when it came t o res ea rch on prevent i ng s oi l erosion. Ground cover and soil enrichment were main features of his research through the years. In 1956, Fenster was faced with another career decision. He could stay with SCS, or go to the Agriculture Research Service. At that time, the University of Nebraska approached him to come to work for it doing stubble mulch farming research. He went to work on the university’s research station near Alliance, w he r e c o n s e r v a t i o n wo r k w a s expanding in western Nebraska. They also did a lot of work on plots in farmers’ fields. “We also got industry interested in building equipment that was necessary to leave residues on the soil surface, and that did a much better job of seeding our wheat into moist soil, and seed through heavy residues,” he recalled. Fenster was at A l l ia nce unt il 1966 when he moved to Scottsbluff and in 1967 began research on newly acquired universit y land near Sidney. The High Plains Ag L ab has been a boon for dryland wheat farmers, who have benefited from the years of studies on fertilizers and numerous cultivation practices. About this time, the university decided to locate academic person-
Photo by Sandra Hansen
Checking results of one of the many tests run in the Western Sugar lab every day are assistant chemist Laura Garcia and chief chemist Jana Longoria. Garcia started at the Scottsbluff plant in July 2014 after a couple years at the cooperative’s Fort Morgan, Colorado, operation.
WSC chemist graduated from ‘beet digger’ to beet processor Laura Garcia veered off course to a successful career By SANDRA HANSEN Ag Editor
Photo by Sandra Hansen
Charlie Fenster’s parents were lured to western Nebraska by the booklet on the left. The publication in his left hand is Fenster’s review of changes in Nebraska Panhandle farming over the past century, “Breaking the Ground: The Evolution of Farming in the Panhandle of Nebraska Through 2000.”
nel at Scottsbluff, and have them commute to research laboratories at Alliance and the High Plains Ag Lab at Sidney. This new arrangement was made possible when the universit y acquired the Hiram Scot t College facilit y northwest of Scottsbluf f. University staff were moved from the Mitchell research center to Scottsbluff, and field managers and farm technicians were retained at the research labs. T he increased presence in
western Nebraska has resulted in improved farming practices on dryland and irrigated fields, as well as range management. B ei ng on loc at ion has mea nt more reliable research on pest and disease control, and more realistic results in f ield trials, which are done in cooperation with area producers. I n a dd it ion t o i mp rov i n g re search practices in western Ne braska, Fenster also visited other FENSTER, page 2
Watch out world, here comes Laura. Even without her mother’s encouragement. Laura Garcia doesn’t need her mother “pushing” her to succeed as she launches her career in the sugar beet processing industry. Garcia signed on with Western Sugar Cooperative in Scottsbluff in July 2014 after being introduced to the business at the company’s Fort Morgan, Colorado, facility. A graduate of the University of Colorado in Denver, even as a youngster, Garcia had been intent on a career as a medical doctor. However, after graduating from Brush High School, in Brush, Colorado, she pursued her dream at the university and within a few semesters, decided the path to a doctorate was not what she wanted. The cost and time that would be involved were beyond her desires. She wanted to get started in a career. Her best choice after graduation was a job at the Western Sugar Cooperative facility in Fort Morgan. Hired as a lab clerk, without any experience, she was surprised at the possibilities she discovered there. “I had never thought about a career in food science,” Garcia explained. But after learning about the potential, and with a Bachelor of Science in biology, “My schooling came through for me,” she said. Hired straight out of school, Garcia began full time at Fort Morgan in 2012, and transferred to Scottsbluff in July 2014. Garcia arrived in Scottsbluff after Gayle Hoskovec, her lab supervisor at Fort Morgan who had worked there, encouraged her to apply for the assistant chemist position at the Scottsbluff factory. “The overall vibes of the two factories are similar,” Garcia said. “They are some of the hardest working people I know.” Working in Scottsbluff satisfies two of Garcia’s passions. GARCIA, page 3
Giving animals a second chance By JOE DUTTON Staff Reporter
H A R T V ILLE, Wyo. — Inside the beautiful rolling hills just northwest of Hartville, Wyoming, on Highway 270, sits a 1,000-acre ranch filled with specialized shelters and wide open spaces for dogs, cats, horses, pigs and sheep to have a second chance at life. Before Kindness Ranch was helping save dozens of animals each year, the idea of an animal sanctuary stemmed from Dr. David Groobman, who had a passion for rescuing animals. After realizing there were limited animal sanctuaries for former research animals in the United States, he decided to purchase some land and start one of his own. In 2006, the K indness Ranch was opened to help research animals become faithful human companions. Since then, the nonprofit animal sanctuary has provided a place for more than 350 animals. K indness R a nch Execut ive Director Ta m ra Brennan, who has managed nonprofit organizations and
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animal sanctuaries for 20 years, and also has a deep passion for rescuing animals, said, in most cases, research animals are euthanized after a study of the animal is completed, but the Kindness Ranch helps save those animals. “We were the first sanctuary in the U.S. to take in all types of former research animals,” she said. “ The few sanctuaries that existed were targeted to specific species, mainly primates or monkeys. Today, there are still only a small handful of sanctuaries in the U.S. for former research animals.” T he K i nd ne s s R a nch wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of the community and the serene la ndsc ap e of Wyom i ng. Brenna n sa id Wyom i ng provides a rural atmosphere that is beneficial for the animals and sanctuary environment. It is also centrally located to other states that have a large amount of research laboratories. “ We a r e lo c a t e d i n a beautiful area and a friendly community,” Brennan said. “ We have had numerous adoptions and support from
Photo by Joe Dutton
The Kindness Ranch near Hartville, Wyoming, offers a place for sheep, pigs, horses, cats and dogs to recooperate after being part of animal research studies.
our local community and businesses.” The sanctuary provides a place of rehabilitation for animals to learn what it’s like to live in a homebased environment. The ranch offers human caretakers in spacious and specially designed yurts to fit the animals’ needs. These ca ret a kers also prov ide
round-the-clock attention to the animals to make sure they are adjusting well to their new lives. “ I n most cases, when research dogs come to Kindness Ranch, they have never played with another dog or toys, experienced the outdoors, touched grass, been on a walk or potty trained,”
Brennan said. “The rehab program at Kindness Ranch assists these amazing animals through this process, helping them work toward their forever homes.” Each animal that comes to Kindness Ranch has a different need, personality and comfort level with humans. Brennan said some arrive
very social, while others are very nervous or timid and some are bounding bundles of happiness the second they arrive. A ll of the animals are evaluated on temperament, socialization and individual needs. Once the dogs and cats have been successfully KINDNESS RANCH, page 4
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