Members of the 2026 YSA gathered for a photo at Cross Ranch. Pictured are (front row, L to R) Justine Johns, Minneapolis; Brooke Falk, Harveyville; Hannah Grund, Wallace; Teagan Sturdy-Milliken, Lyndon; Sierra Cargill, Medicine Lodge; Adalaide Kline, Colby; Baylee Shultz, Berryton; Taylee Velasquez, Hugoton; MaKala Fitzsimmons, Cunningham; Skye Schumaker, Pratt; (back row, L to R) Shane Flach, Manhattan; Jack Roenne, Great Bend; Luke Kaiser, Grinnell; 2007 KLA President David Cross, Lewis; Gatlin Clawson, Meade; Nick Nowak, Ellis; Nick Higgason, Olmitz; Casey Giffing, Ulysses; Quinton Porter, Hays; and Brady McComb, Pratt. Class member James Brack of Moscow is not pictured.
The KLA Young Stockmen’s Academy (YSA) met September 21-23 for its third seminar of the year, a bus tour of beef and dairy operations in central and southwest Kansas. The YSA program is exclusively sponsored by Merck Animal Health.
Innovative Livestock Services hosted the first stop near Larned, where the class toured a new feedyard and learned about considerations involved in building a facility. The group then visited Twin Circle Dairy near Lewis, one of five dairies supplying milk to Hilmar Cheese Company’s Dodge City plant. The dairy features two 120-cow rotary parlors and milks 19,000 cows twice daily. The next stop was Cross Ranch, owned by 2007 KLA President David Cross. The operation includes a cow-calf herd and custom weaning and growing business. The class later joined KLA members for dinner and networking in Dodge City.
Day two began at Dodge City Veterinary Clinic with Beef Quality Assurance training and an injection-site demonstration led by Tim Parks, DVM, with Merck Animal Health. Veterinarian Chad Kerr discussed the veterinary business and his 25-plus years of practice. In Scott City, the class visited the KLA Environmental Services (ES) office for lunch and received an overview of the business. Cobalt Cattle then hosted the group at its Leoti feedyard, where Chief Executive Officer Joel Jarnagin discussed cattle feeding and led a tour of the new feed mill. The final stop of the day was Larson Ranch in Leoti, owned by YSA alumni Brady and Kyla Larson. The Larsons raise Angus and Charolais seedstock and recently implemented Halter virtual fencing collars. They hosted the class and local KLA members for dinner.
Hilmar Cheese Company in Dodge City was the final stop of the three-day tour. Production shift manager Pablo Morales provided an overview of plant operations and the company’s supply chain.
The class will meet for its final YSA session during the 2026 KLA Convention in Manhattan November 18-20.