Krutsinger Scholarship encourages rangeland management careers

A new scholarship will provide aid to students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources interested in careers in rangeland management.

Longtime rancher Ron Krutsinger of Norfolk established the Garry Krutsinger Range Management Scholarship to honor his late brother with a $52,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The permanently endowed fund will enable the university to award one or more annual scholarships to students who graduated high school in Dundy, Hitchcock or Chase counties in Nebraska.

“Garry loved the ranchland and was an excellent steward of the land,” Ron Krutsinger said. “He passed away a few years ago, and we wanted to do something to honor him. He didn’t get a chance to go to college, but that was our motivation, to honor him and help future generations who may follow in his footsteps.”

Scholarships will be awarded to students interested in pursuing a career in rangeland management or a similar field who study animal science, agronomy and horticulture, grassland ecology and management, or grazing livestock systems. Preference will be given to students who have participated in range judging, range youth camps or range management activities with 4-H or Future Farmers of America.

Wes Anderjaska, a junior agribusiness major from Palisade, is the first recipient of the scholarship.

“This scholarship only pushes me further toward my agribusiness education and my dreams of one day having a successful career in agriculture,” Anderjaska said.

Steven Waller, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said the support offered through the Krutsinger Scholarship reflects the rangeland management profession and its stewardship of the land and people.

“The fact that the Krutsinger family chose to honor Garry with a scholarship in rangeland management is a wonderful statement of confidence in and optimism for our young professionals,” he said. “It also serves as evidence of Garry’s passion and is a lasting legacy for the Krutsinger family.”

Garry Krutsinger was a lifelong Dundy County resident born in Benkelman in 1942. He graduated from Parks High School in 1960 and the following year joined the U.S. Army, serving in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. After honorable discharge in 1964, he returned to work on his family’s Nebraska ranch.

Krutsinger was honored in 2001 by the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts with its Master Rangeland Conservation Award. After retiring from agriculture, he moved to Brush, Colorado, in 2011, where he died later that year. Survivors include daughter Stacy and son Jake.

“His lifelong passion was improving and conserving rangeland,” Ron Krutsinger said.

The scholarship gift also provides support for Our Students, Our Future, the University of Nebraska’s current initiative seeking broad support for students.