Feedlot Bootcamp

Feedlot Management Boot Camp

The 2026 Feedlot Management Boot Camp will be January 12-15, 2026. Applications are due on October 19, 2025. To apply please fill out the application below:

https://bit.ly/2026FeedlotBootcampApplication

May 2026 graduates are welcome to apply. Please visit with Dr. Karol Fike if you have questions (127 Weber Hall, Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University; karol@ksu.edu)

activity at Feedlot Bootcamp

Opportunity exists for up to 20 undergraduate students to participate in an all-expenses-paid (NO COST TO STUDENTS) Kansas State Feedlot Management Collegiate Boot Camp to be held Monday, January 12 through Thursday, January 15, 2026 (this is the week before classes begin) in the Garden City, Kansas area.

The overarching goal of this Boot Camp and associated activities and opportunities is to:

develop student’s knowledge, skills, and professional relationships in feedlot management in order to help meet critical need for trained professionals in the feedlot industry

Specific objectives include to:

  • Train students in aspects of feedlot management through a 4-day hands-on comprehensive “Boot Camp” at western Kansas participating feedlots (Jan. 12-15, 2026)
  • Enhance student’s likelihood of participating in a feedlot internship experiences
  • Cultivate student’s vision of potential career paths within the beef cattle industry

The “Boot Camp”will include both classroom instruction and hands-on experiences at participating feedlots in the Garden City area including Reeve Cattle Company, Inc., Poky Feeders, and Finney County Feedyard. No cost to student - transportation to Garden City, hotels, food, and educational materials are provided. Students will be able to enroll in ASI 662 for either 0 or 1 credit hour for spring semester, 2026. “Boot Camp” content will include:

  • Cattle health management
  • Business management operations
  • Feed yard maintenance & waste management
  • Risk management
  • Low-stress cattle handling
  • Nutrition management & feed mill operations

During and (or) following the Boot Camp there will be additional opportunity for students to:

  • “Networking night” with feedlot industry partners to facilitate connection with and potentially earn a summer 2026 paid feedlot management internship (opportunity to earn credit through ASI 599)
  • Participate in hands-on cattle processing experience & observe a calf necropsy during April, 2026
  • Earn a $2500 scholarship to be applied to fall semester, 2026 (for those who complete the Boot Camp, cattle processing experience, and feedlot-focused internship (2 month minimum)