Released: February 14, 2005

Kansas Beef Industry Supports KARL Program

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The benefits of an improved beef market go well beyond the feedlot. During better times, beef producers often reinvest in their businesses -- improving facilities, equipment and employee benefits. Another investment has been taking place over this past year, however, as the beef market improved.

“An increasing number of the beef feedlots across Kansas have been investing in the leadership pool working towards a more prosperous future by contributing to the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program,” said Jack Lindquist.

Lindquist, the president of KARL, Inc., the non-profit educational corporation that oversees the KARL Program, recently acknowledged the growing support with a poster at an exposition in Wichita. The poster recognized the 37 feedlots that have invested in KARL Class VII at an average of $500 in financial support each.

The largest contribution, cash and in-kind, came from Decatur County Feed Yard in Oberlin. Decatur County Feed Yard donated $5,000 over a two-year period, Lindquist said.

Warren Weibert, of Decatur County Feed Yard, also serves as chairman of the board for the KARL Program. He recently contacted the feedlots and other major contributors of the program to thank them for their private donations, saying that, “the KARL Program would not exist without private support like you made the past year.”

Weibert challenged those donors to also promote the idea of KARL to one of their employees or a member of their community.

“The application takes a little time and there is a substantial time commitment for the participant, but the personal rewards and potential benefits to the community are well worth the effort,” Lindquist said.

The KARL Program is a two-year study, training and tour experience for leaders of rural communities and the agricultural industry in Kansas. The curriculum includes 10 in-state seminars, a national study tour to Washington, D.C. and a 12-day international study tour. Thirty leaders are accepted into each class. The value is $11,500 per person with $2,500 coming from

tuition fees and the remaining $9,000 per person from contributions.

Application forms are due by April 15. To apply for, or to contribute to the KARL Program, visit the Web site at http://www.karlprogram.com  or call Lindquist at 785-532-6300.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News