Bridging Agriculture and Nutrition: Nebraska Beef Council Engages Future Dietitians

KEARNEY, NE (October 7, 2025)– Mitch Rippe, Nebraska Beef Council Director of Nutrition and Education, has been busy connecting the worlds of agriculture and dietetics through two impactful learning experiences for dietetic interns from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Beef Industry Farm Tour
In an effort to bridge the gap between dietetic programs and the agricultural industry, the Nebraska Beef Council recently hosted a comprehensive farm tour offering future dietitians’ firsthand exposure to the beef production cycle.

Stops included Lienetics Ranch, Weber & Sons Co., and McLean Beef’s retail and processing facility, where students learned about sustainability, animal care, and food safety. Nebraska Beef Council Board Member Mark Goes led an interactive meat science session utilizing carcasses donated from the Cattlemen’s Ball, including Angus, Hereford, Beef x Dairy, and Piedmontese breeds. Students used tools and data to calculate ribeye area and quality grade, connecting classroom knowledge to real-world applications.

UNMC intern Kennedy Jones reflected on the experience:

“Seeing how feed is designed to promote healthy growth helped me better understand the link between animal nutrition and the quality of beef people eat. Watching the steps of portioning, packaging, and labeling made me think differently about food safety. It made food systems feel much more personal.”

Media & Communications Workshop
Following the tour, the Nebraska Beef Council also hosted a Media and Communications Workshop, designed to help dietetic interns strengthen their communication skills and build confidence when sharing nutrition information with the public.

Sessions were led by expert partners, including Hannah Guenther, Food, Nutrition, and Health Extension Educator with Nebraska Extension, who led Communicating Health with Impact: Tailoring Health Messages for Every Community, and Melissa Joy Dobbins, MS, RDN, CDCES, host of the nationally recognized Sound Bites® Podcast, who presented Messaging, Bridging, and Beyond. These sessions equipped interns with tools for message consistency, consumer trust, and effectively navigating complex food conversations.