Steer-A-Year: Choice Beef Supports Grade A Students

Three alumni found a way to use commodities on hand--in the form of beef on the hoof--to support student scholarships.

The Steer-A-Year program was initiated in 1988 by cattlemen James "Guy" Colyer (B.S. agriculture '73), Tom Olsen (M.S. agriculture '69) and Bill Frederiksen (B.S. agriculture '71). Olsen had heard about a similar program in Montana, and the three alums thought it might fly at Idaho.

"We were looking for ways to get cattlemen involved and cooperating with the UI College of Agriculture and with athletics," said Colyer. "So we ended up thinking that if we got the Steer-a-Year program started, we could benefit both. With these scholarships, we hope to keep the best students within the state."

Like the ranchers who started it, the program is pretty straightforward. Donors can deliver a steer to the UI feedlot at Caldwell, or have it picked up at one of several locations around the state, including the France Feedlot at Gooding, Magic Valley Feeder at Murtaugh, Rodney Payne Ranch at Idaho Falls, and the UI campus.

Michele Kimberling, UI Photographic Services

Among the 26 students currently on campus who have benefited from Steer-A-Year are (clockwise from top left) Jacque Church, Jake Brackett, Meghan Zielinski, Kate Hoffman, Kim Lanting, Kyla Mink, and Jessica Harrington.

At Caldwell, steers are put on growing/finishing rations from January through June. When they are determined to be marketable (USDA choice grade) the steers are sold. Proceeds from the sales of the steers fund scholarships for animal and veterinary science students. The program also supports athletic scholarships and beef research programs.

Annually, about 40 percent of steers enrolled in the program are donated by nonproducers. Individuals or groups can donate. UI President Bob Hoover has donated a steer. Depending on the cattle market, a steer costs between $450 and $600.

The Idaho Cattle Association (ICA) Scholarship Endowment, partially funded by Steer-A-Year, now exceeds $274,000. The number and amount of scholarship awards vary depending on endowment interest earnings, but the fund provides seven to nine animal and veterinary science scholarships of up to $2,000 each annually.

"Getting a scholarship is a huge honor," said Tiffany Callison, a 1999 recipient of a $2,000 John T. Basabe Memorial Scholarship, funded by the ICA Endowment. Callison, a Blackfoot native and outstanding high school senior, chose Idaho because scholarship support made the choice possible.

Steer-A-Year donors are recognized in Idaho football and basketball programs, receive growth and carcass data on their steers, and compete for growth and carcass awards. Under Internal Revenue Service guidelines, the full amount of a Steer-A-Year donation is deductible. For more information, contact Dan Hinman, UI Caldwell Research & Extension Center, (208) 459-6365.

--Donna Emert