SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
NEWS RELEASE

The South Dakota State University Swine Club will host University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor emeritus, Ron Hanson, on April 16 as he addresses passing down the family farm to the next generation.

Hanson’s presentation will take place at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center on the SDSU campus. There is no charge to attend the event, but a free-will donation of canned goods for the Brookings Food Pantry is appreciated.

“I heard Dr. Hanson speak recently about his experiences from more than 40 years of counseling farm families in the approach and resolution of issues stemming from farm succession planning,” explains Madelyn Regier, SDSU Swine Club president and an agricultural education and animal science major. “The SDSU Swine Club believes that this information will be useful to everyone in planning for their future and the handling of their final estate”.

Hanson recently retired from a college teaching and student advising career of 46 years where he earned 31 university and national award recognitions. He has received the John Deere Agribusiness Teaching Award of Excellence and the University Educator of the Year Award.

Hanson is the only University of Nebraska professor to have received the USDA Excellence in University Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which is the highest national teaching honor granted to a college professor in the area of agricultural and food sciences. His two most distinguished career honors were being named the Nebraska Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation in Washington D.C. and being named the Educator of the Year by the University student government.

Hanson was raised on an Illinois family farm. He earned his undergraduate college degree from Western Illinois University and his graduate degrees from the University of Illinois.

He has counseled with Nebraska farm families for more than 30 years to help them resolve family conflicts in a more positive manner and to improve family relations through better communications. As a widely traveled national speaker, Hanson’s current efforts have been directed at resolving the family issues involved with the farm business ownership family succession and the transfer of management control between farming generations.

The Swine Club is a student-led organization dedicated to generating interest, building understanding and providing opportunities for growth in the swine industry. Collaboration with a wide variety of very supportive pork industry partners is a cornerstone that helps future pork industry leaders succeed.

According to Regier, “The efforts of the SDSU Swine Club are supported by companies representing swine nutrition, swine genetics, animal health, sales, production management and equipment manufacturing. Through our club, students have an opportunity to both learn about the industry and make potential future employment connections.”

For more information contact Regier at [email protected].