University of Wyoming Recognizes Ag Leaders During Ag Appreciation Weekend

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A long-time collaborator and owner of an 8,500-head feedlot and farm and the director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA) are Outstanding Alumni Award recipients from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

 

A Gillette rancher who many have tapped for his expertise is being recognized with the Legacy Award for his giving to the college and university, and the Wyoming Wool Growers Association was named the college’s Outstanding Research Partner Award recipient.

 

They will be recognized during Ag Appreciation Weekend Sept. 16-17 in Laramie.


Outstanding Alumni

Bill Gross

Bill Gross

William Gross graduated from the college in 1961 with an animal science degree and eventually doubled his family’s cow-calf stocker operation to 8,500 head near Pine Bluffs. The family also has irrigated and dryland crop ground.

 

“Bill has utilized the formal education he received at UW to build an outstanding farming and ranching operation,” said nominator Paul Lowham of Jackson. “He has grown it financially and has included family members, who will ensure its sustainability.”

 

Doug Miyamoto

Doug Miyamoto

Rawlins native Douglas Miyamoto earned his BS (1996) and MS (2001) in rangeland ecology and watershed management. From 1999 to 2014, he served in multiple capacities with the Natural Resources Conservation Service before Gov. Matt Mead appointed him WDA director.

 

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean’s Advisory Board is one of many boards and commissions on which Miyamoto serves at state and federal levels.

 

“It is without question Doug has distinguished himself in his professional life and put his degrees to good use,” wrote nominator John Tanaka, associate director of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station.


Legacy Award

John Hines

Long-time legislator John Hines turned around his self-described early lackluster performance managing a ranch and has grown his Gillette-area operation into one that attracts many people seeking his expertise.

Hines used the endowment gift matching funds program at UW to create the Hines Family Scholarship in 2005. Hines was appointed to serve by then-Gov. Dave Freudenthal on the first Wyoming Brucellosis Coordination Team. He’s made donations to the UW veterinary diagnostic laboratory to help purchase diagnostic equipment, and his charitable gift fund benefits the Wildlife-Livestock Health Program and UW athletics.


Research Partner

Members of the Wyoming Wool Growers Board of Directors include, from left, Vance Broadbent, executive director Amy Hendrickson, Jim Dona, Kay Neves, Lisa Keeler, Peter John Camino, Regan Smith, John Marton, and Bob Harlan.

Members of the Wyoming Wool Growers Board of Directors include, from left, Vance Broadbent, executive director Amy Hendrickson, Jim Dona, Kay Neves, Lisa Keeler, Peter John Camino, Regan Smith, John Marton, and Bob Harlan.

The Wyoming Wool Growers Association, which has collaborated with the college in ram tests since 1961, is the Outstanding Research Partner Award recipient. The association partners with the Mountain States Lamb Cooperative to conduct a black face ram sire test and a white face ram sire test with UW. Both are at the Laramie Research and Extension Center. Fleece characteristics are measured and combined with gain data to create an overall index.

 

There are nine active sheep-related research projects in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in addition to the annual black face and white face ram sire tests.

 

The annual Ag Day Barbecue, which benefits agricultural student organizations, is 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday in the southwest corner of the Indoor Practice Facility prior to the University of Wyoming-UC Davis football game.

Feature stories about the award recipients are at bit.ly/2016agawards.

 

 

Source:  University of Wyoming Extension News

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