Overview of the Timmerman Feedyard Management Internship

Abstract The Timmerman Feedyard Management Internship began in 1988 under the direction of Dr. Terry Klopfenstein. It is a nationally renowned feedyard management training program, exclusive to University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The internship trains students through comprehensive feedyard management classes and with real world experiences in high caliber feedyards. The program is designed for students interested in pursuing a career in beef feedyard management or other related agribusiness areas. The purpose of the internship is to train undergraduate students in feedyard management to fill the growing need for trained responsible individuals who can fill management positions in feedyards. The internship is divided into three segments. The pre-internship session occurs on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus beginning near the end of May to provide basic knowledge pertaining to the feedyard industry. Students interact with specialists in feedyard management and nutrition, animal health, economics, and personnel management. The second portion of the internship occurs when students go to their host feedyards to experience firsthand how professionals utilize the principles students learned in the pre-session. During the third portion, students return to Nebraska for two weeks to discuss their experiences with each other and the experts they were exposed to during the pre-session. There is no direct cost to the student to participate in the internship, with tuition paid by the Nebraska Cattlemen and from the Timmerman Endowment Fund. The internship is designed students to enter upon or near the completion of their undergraduate degree in Animal Science, Agribusiness, or a related major. The program has trained over 100 interns, many of whom are working in the beef industry today.